Remember Me
by xMegumix
Summary: Yuki Loves Kingdom Hearts. What happens when she is transported with no memory of anything into the very game she loves? Well, find out! RoxasSoraxOc
1. Town of Twilight

Hoshi-sama here! My first story on fan fiction... I hope you all like it!

Yuki Aminewaru, that's my name all right. At least... I think it is... I can't quite remember anything else. You see, I'm sorta inside this place that I don't even know. Signs and flyers say that this place is called Twilight Town. For some reason that strikes me as familiar, but I can't quite place it...

--

-_Flashback_- (a/n: The story before Yuki lost her memory)

"Yeah! Take that, losers..." I grinned evilly as my fingers pounded the buttons on the controller to my PS2. Currently, I was making Sora rip through the army of heartless on the mountainside in the Land of Dragons. I love using the reaction command 'sparkle ray'. It's just fun to see a gigantic beam of light destroy everything. It doesn't even use Sora's energy! Ah, good things come in small packages...

I jumped when a sudden sharp knocking came at my door.

"Yuki, Go to sleep already! You have school tomorrow, and Shina was going to come for you at six, so be ready to get up early!" Was heard muffled through the door. I sighed and paused the game momentarily.

"Yes, mom..." I quickly went through the after scene and shut the game off. Thank goodness tomorrow was the last day of school for the week. Smiling inwardly, I got into bed and fell asleep.

"... Needed..."

I looked around in the darkness, feeling my face turn into a frown.

"W-who said that?" I spun around, feeling my eyes frantically looking for the source of the noise in the eerie shadows.

"..Your skills are needed by _them_."

I stood there for a moment, the person's words registering in my brain.

"...My skills? I don't know what you're talking about..." I peered around me still, searching for this mysterious person when a small hole of light appeared from under me. I blinked and shielded my eyes from the bright light; it was going to give me a headache. I never was one for the light...  
"Do you remember... Your staff?"

Okay, now this was too weird... What the heck would I do with a staff?

"Okay, stupid dream... must wake up..." I closed my eyes and pinched myself, feeling pain tingle under my skin.

"... So this isn't a dream... Unless it's a very lifelike dream..." I hissed and backed away slightly as the hole of light got bigger, and soon a wide area was lit up. As I unshielded my eyes, I saw a small stone pedestal in the center of the area, a staff with a sharp blade with intricate designs on the end. In the center of the blade was a mystic-looking blackish purplish gem. I cautiously walked up to it and touched the flat surface of the blade.

"... Do you remember?"

I ran my fingers over the hard cold metal, over the engraved designs.

"... Remember...?" I mouthed to myself quietly, my brain being fried under the pressure I was putting on it to find out what this voice was talking about.

"... Saddening... Time is running out though, you must go there."

I blinked and looked up and around me. "Huh? What do you mean, 'go there'?"

"You will forget everything of this world, save for your name, age, and of the fact that your staff exists... They await your help..."

I backed up as the light below me started to grow cracks in them. I quickly grabbed the staff and jumped to the side, the floor below me breaking away piece by piece. I screamed as I started to plummet into the darkness below me.

-_End Flashback_-

I walked along the street, the warm air blowing my raven hair around my face. Watching children run along the street towards a small area by some steps, I can't help but let my curiosity get the best of me. I mean, isn't it at least a bit intriguing to see a bunch of people gather into one spot? I think so...

As I made my way towards the cluttered people, I saw a white ball fly into the air. I blinked as a boy jumped into the air and did a numerous amount of strikes at the ball, sending it even higher. I smiled softly; so it was a street performance... I made my way to the front of the crowd and watched the boy carefully. He seemed somewhat familiar... Just like the name of the town... I looked at the ball as it descended towards the ground.  
Did I live here at some point? Oh well... The ball popped as it hit the ground, everyone erupting into a large applause for the teen. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as a girl walked up to him. Of course, I couldn't hear anything, but she handed him some money. I smiled to myself as I saw the girl leave, but then the boy glanced up at me. Those eyes... They looked so familiar. A dark, ocean blue... The boy smiled and started walking up towards me, and I looked around nervously. Yep... he was coming towards me... Crap, did I ever say that I'm extremely anti-social? He reached me and held out his hand.

"Hey, I don't believe that I've seen you around town before. Are you new here?"

I nervously shook his hand and nodded my head slightly. "Erm... Good question... I guess I am sorta new here."

He blinked and tilted his head at me, a confused expression on his face. "You guess? Well, that's strange... My name is Roxas, by the way."

I smiled slightly at Roxas. "My name's Yuki..."

"Well, Yuki. I guess I'll see you later, I gotta go meet my friends somewhere."

He waved as he started to run up the sloped street. I shrugged and turned around, heading nowhere in particular.

"Sure, whatever..."

I started to walk away, stuffing my hands into the black Cargo pants I was wearing when I came to. Strange kid... Roxas, I think it was... Yeah, Roxas. For some reason, he kept on popping into my mind. Now I'm really curious as to why he seems so familiar... I know I didn't meet him anywhere. I'm sure of it... I blinked and stopped in my tracks, for I just realized something.

"Where the heck am I going to stay...?" I mentally cursed myself and ran into an alleyway that led to a large part of the town. There was bound to be a hotel somewhere in here... I sighed, finding no sign of a hotel or inn in sight... Hah, I just made a pun! I spotted a group of teens and what seemed to be a kid along a wall a little ways away from me. I sighed inwardly and mentally slapped myself. It's time I suck up my pride and start asking people for some help... I nervously walked to the group as the girl noticed me. Strange... She hade silver hair and red eyes... Interesting. She pointed at me and her stare never left me... It was getting creepy.

"Outsider..."

Everyone else looked at me and I blinked, feeling a need to run away as fast as I could. Of course, I went against my impulse and waved meekly.

"Um... Hello. D-do you now were I can find an inn or something...?"

The guy with the hat looked at me and crossed his arms. Rather arrogant, if you ask me...

"Who are you?"

I blinked and thought of numerous ways to punish him... Of course, I could probably never follow through with any imagined punishment.

"Uh, I-i just arrived from another town... My name is Yuki."

The other guy, who was rather built, put his hands on his hips. "Man, we never get outsiders here, y'know?"

The guy in the cap held out his hand and smirked. "The name's Seifer... That's Fuu," Seifer pointed to the girl with white hair, "this is Rai, and that's Vivi." He pointed to the small boy after saying his name. Yuki shook Seifer's hand briefly and looked at the group anxiously.

"Um... Well, do you know where I can find an Inn or Hotel?"

Seifer shook his head and gestured towards the town. "This town never gets any visitors, so no one bothers opening up any hotels. Your outta luck here."

Yuki sighed and slumped her shoulders, nodding and glaring at the ground. "Oh... Well, that sucks for me..."

"So I take it you don't plan on living around here?"

Yuki thought for a minute, her brain thinking of the best way to respond. Ah, what the heck, the truth never hurts!

"Well, truthfully... I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't remember anything, so I'm working off of nothing here... Well, I guess I'll catch you guys later. Gotta think of something before it gets too late."

Yuki turned and started to walk off, completely ignoring the group behind her as she racked her brain for anything. Rai scratched the side of his head and turned towards Seifer.

"Man, she was strange, wasn't she?"

Seifer nodded in agreement and they watched the depressed raven-haired girl saunter away.

--

Sitting on top of the station tower, I stared out at the sky with a rather peeved expression on my face. I mean, I wake up to find that I can't remember a damned thing! Unless you count my name and age... And something about a spear... Hmm, what a random piece of information to be stuck in my head... I sighed and took a deep breath, laying on my back to see four pairs of eyes looking down on me. I yelled in surprised and jumped up onto the ledge, almost losing my balance when one of the people grabbed my hand.

"Whoa! Watch it there, you're going to fall off if you keep that up." I looked behind me to see the ground dangerously far from where I was.

"Y-yeah... Thanks." I turned and saw Roxas keeping me on top of the tower, along with three other people I hadn't met before. Too many people in one day... I think I'm going to get a migraine. Roxas smiled as I hopped off the edge, letting go of his hand.

"Erm, it _was_ Roxas, right?" I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck. Another one of my downfalls... Bad memory. I guess that's why I can't remember anything. Roxas smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. Oh, hey, these are my friends. Hayner, Pence, and Olette."

With each name, he pointed at them, Hayner nodded towards me, Pence smiled, and Olette waved happily. I nodded my head and smiled.

"Uh, hey! My name's Yuki... Well, I guess I should be going now, don't wanna ruin your day..."

I went to walk away, but someone grabbed my arm lightly. I turned and saw Olette smiling happily.

"Oh, come on. You can stay if you want to! It's such a pretty view from here."

I looked around hesitatingly, but gave in and nodded. Sitting back down on the ledge on the left of Olette and the right of Roxas. Boy, this is going to be interesting... Everywhere I go I run into people... I mean, I thought I would be one of the only people here crazy enough to climb onto the ledge of a tower! Guess not though...

"So, Yuki... Where do you live? I mean, we've never seen you around before."

I sighed, for once again; I had to talk about my homeless status... Man, I must sound like a hobo at this point.

"Well... Truthfully, I don't remember anything past ten minutes ago... Well, except for my name and stuff like that... I must sound pretty strange, right?"

Hayner leaned back on his arms and laughed. "Well, that's an understatement..."

I laughed slightly as well, and rested my head on my hands, watching the town below me.

"Well, nothing I can do about it now. I don't remember if I even live in this town, so I don't know if I have a home or anything... Sucks to be me."

Olette turned towards me with a surprised look. "Then where are you going to stay! You can't stay out here during the night, it's not right."

I shrugged. "I don't see the problem in it. I mean, it's not like some creep would try to take me or anything."

Olette tilted her head at me. "You should stay with one of us! I can't let you stay at my house though because my parents are away..."

I shook my head and waved my hands frantically. "N-no! I'll be fine, really! I don't want to intrude on you guys or anything. It wouldn't seem right to just come with one of you guys... and plus... It would seem... awkward for a girl to just sleep at a guys house, you know?"

Pence laughed and nodded his head. "Yeah, our parents would freak out if they found out that some girl wanted to stay with us."

Hayner nodded in agreement, I sighed inwardly with relief. I surely didn't want to sleep in some stranger's house... Especially if they were a guy. Roxas leaned back on his hands and shrugged.

"You could stay with me if you want. I don't have any parents..."

I blinked and looked at Roxas, who was just staring out into the sky. I shook my head and smiled slightly. Poor kid...

"I-it's all right. I don't want to impose on you or anything..."

Roxas turned towards me and smiled. "It's okay, really. It's not like we can just let you sleep outside."

I sighed, having a feeling that this would end in their favor no matter what. I need to work on my persuasive skills...

"Okay... if you insist..."

--

Roxas led me towards a series of apartment complexes. All of them seemed the same to me though... bright and blinding from the twilight. I blinked back a couple of tears as we stopped in front of a door. He made a strange face as he searched for his keys in his many, many pockets.

"I Think I put it in this pocket... Okay, maybe this one...? Ahh... Got it." He grinned and unlocked his door, leading me into a dark entrance. I smiled as I saw the plain room around me. I never did like anything to showy, so this was perfect. Roxas turned  
towards me and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Ah... I don't have any extra rooms... So I guess I'll sleep on the couch and you can have my room."

I shook my head and smiled genuinely. This guy just couldn't make me my usual indifferent self... "No, I'm fine on the couch. I shouldn't even be taking up space and imposing anyway."

Roxas opened his mouth to protest, but I didn't give him the chance as I plopped down on the couch. Looking at Roxas with a smile, I waved and chuckled. "Thanks for letting me stay here... It really means a lot."

Roxas nodded and started to head down a hallway that branched off of the entrance. "No problem." Roxas then left, but shortly returned, popping his head into the room. "Oh, I forgot to tell you... The bathroom's all the way down the hall, and my room is on the left. Just shout if you need anything."

I nodded as I felt my eyelids drooping on me. Geez, was I that tired...? I only woke up who knows how many hours ago... _Hmm... I wonder if I'll remember anything in the morning... _Yawning, I let myself start to fall asleep. Yay, darkness...

--

"Ugh..." I felt someone gently shaking me. Cracking one eye open, I saw Roxas grinning at me. I blinked back the remaining sleep and yawned as I sat up.

"... Good morning..."

Roxas smiled and nodded. He had a really excited expression on his face. "Yep. So... Have you heard of the struggle tournament?"

I blinked and tilted my head. It did sound sort of familiar... Wait! I know... All of those flyers posted all over town... "I've heard about it... but I don't know what it is exactly. Why?"

Roxas grinned at my response and started to help me up from the couch. "Oh, it's awesome! Every year people sign up to fight against each other. I entered with Hayner, so we were going to head over to the sandlot. Wanna come watch?"

I grinned along with Roxas. His smile is very addictive for some reason... It rather bugged me that I didn't feel as bored as I had before I met him. "Sure, it's not like I remember anything I was supposed to do..."

Roxas nodded and started to pull me along and out of the house at a fast pace. "Good! We have to hurry though or we'll be late."

I laughed and started to follow Roxas past the people wandering the streets. They looked at us momentarily but seemed to brush off our rudeness. Good thing too, for confrontation during a rush isn't a pretty sight... Fighting isn't exactly the way that I like to go, so I was glad that everyone seemed so... mellow? I guess that word fits... Roxas started slowing down as we came to a huge area with an arena-like structure in the middle. I spotted Pence, Hayner, and Olette as Roxas led me to them. Olette and Pence smiled at Roxas and I, saying their 'hellos' before Roxas and Hayner had to go up. Hayner seemed pretty irritated towards Roxas for some reason. Was it something from the day before? Who knows... Roxas turned towards me and grinned. "Root for me?"

I shrugged and grinned. "I dunno..."

He lightly punched my shoulder in mock offense and laughed. "Well, see you after I become the Struggle Champion!"

I nodded as Roxas watched Hayner from the side. "Don't beat them too badly!"

I stood by Pence and Olette as Roxas and Hayner made their way to the arena. Olette and Pence seemed really excited for the struggle match, so I expected a really interesting competition. Looking at the contestants on the arena, I picked out Seifer from the day before, as well as Vivi and some tall guy in... Light purple? I'm not sure what kind of a message that sends to you, but he seems to swing the opposite way if you ask me... I shook my head and focused on the current fight.

My eyes widened in surprise as I saw everyone but Roxas and Hayner leave the Arena. So they pitted them against each other... Not exactly a fair match up. I shrugged it off and watched as Hayner charged towards Roxas. Roxas only dropped a few of the orbs he was given at the beginning of the match and quickly recovered by striking at Hayner three times. He collected the various orbs and danced around the stage as Hayner tried to land a hit. He eventually struck Roxas in the back, making Roxas stumble forward. Man, it would have been the perfect opportunity for Hayner if he weren't caught up in collecting orbs... Roxas took this opportunity to jump up and strike back at Hayner four times before Hayner was sent across the arena. I heard Pence and Olette cheering beside me and remembered I was supposed to cheer for Roxas... Lovely memory 'o mine. I filled my lungs with air and yelled as loud as I could. "Go, Roxas! You can beat 'em!"

--

Fin! Yay, first chapter done... I shall write more as soon as I can! Please review, and thank you for reading.


	2. What is this?

It's a new chapter! Yay...

--

The match went on for a few more minutes, but Roxas came out to be the winner after sending Hayner to the ground a few feet away from him. Hayner seemed a little peeved at first, but smiled at Roxas as they started to talk on the stage. Roxas nodded and the two watched Seifer as he made his way up onto the arena with Vivi. All of them exchanged heated glares before Roxas and Hayner came down from the arena t come stand by us. Hayner put his hands behind his head and looked to the side.

"That guy... You better beat him, Roxas!"

Roxas looked at Hayner for a moment and grinned. "You bet I will!"

Hayner smiled and nodded, returning his gaze to the fight. I grinned and watched the fight myself. "You two did great... I guess the struggle really is interesting."

Roxas nodded along with Hayner as the judge started the fight. Seifer struck Vivi, resulting in Vivi dropping an orb. Smiling to himself, he went to grab the orb but was sent across the arena by Vivi, spilling all of his orbs. I felt my eyes widen considerably as I watched the small child just stand there... I mean, he was _just_ standing there... I'd at least expect a little victory dance from a little kid for beating someone twice his size in one blow. Something was strange here... I turned to Hayner, who also had a confused face.

"Is Vivi always that strong...?"

Hayner shook his head and watched Vivi intently. "No... He usually just stands back and watches when our groups get into fights..."

I blinked and dwelled on what Hayner told me as I watched Roxas walk up to the arena. Yep, something's extremely wrong here... "Roxas..."

Roxas turned towards me and blinked. "Yeah?"

I grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "Be careful out there... something doesn't seem right."

He nodded and returned my thumbs up when Seifer walked past him. Seifer briefly said something to Roxas and left, allowing Roxas to go up onto the stage. I watched Roxas momentarily and started to follow Seifer. Pence looked at me with confusion. "Hey Yuki, where are you going? Roxas is about to fight..."

I turned towards Pence and smiled. "Don't worry. Just a bit of recon... I'll be back before he goes up against that purple guy..."

Pence laughed and nodded. "Okay, hurry back."

Nodding, I ran after Seifer and the remainder of his group. "Seifer!"

Seifer and his group turned towards me with a look of confusion on his face. "Huh? Oh, it's you... Yeah?"

"What happened out there...? I could have sworn you were stronger than Vivi."

Rai stepped towards me a little with offense. "Are you tryin' to make fun of Seifer? Huh?"

I blinked and shook my head. "No! I just found it strange... Was it rigged or something?"

Seifer shoved his hands in his pockets and watched the arena. "I don't know... but one thing's for sure. That wasn't Vivi... Why, were you worrying about me?" Seifer smirked at me while I felt my face heat up slightly. Why most people be so strange?

"No, I thought you would have had it covered." I blinked and waited for Seifer to respond, but his whole group, including Seifer himself, stood still. They weren't even breathing... I blinked and walked up to Seifer, gently poking his arm. "Uh, Seifer? Are you okay...?" I then turned and did the same to Fuu. "Fuu, come on. You guys are creeping me out... Breath, for Pete's sake!"

No response came as I blinked. I gently put my ear against Seifer's chest, searching for a heartbeat like I was taught to during CPR classes. No heartbeat... That's scary. I turned and looked towards the arena, only to see Roxas and three white... _things_. What the hell? Those things are like liquid or something. I ran towards the arena as I noticed everyone else was also frozen. Everyone but Roxas, the things, and I. "Roxas! What the heck's going on!"

Roxas sent a white thing across the arena and turned towards me briefly. "Yuki? How are you still moving?"

I shook my head as Roxas started fighting again. "What the hell's going on? Why is everyone frozen? What is that thing you have in your hands?"

I eyed the object with curiosity and slight fear. For some reason, something inside me was afraid of the thing. It seemed to... beckon me? No... Seemed like it was telling my existence to end. Why? I shook my head and backed up a few steps, trying to gather my thoughts. Roxas finally defeated the three things as we heard clapping coming from the direction behind me. I turned around quickly and saw someone in a black cloak. His face was completely hidden in shadows. I backed away slightly, but he didn't seem to even notice me.

"Roxas, all right... Fight, fight, fight. You really don't remember it's me. You know, Axel." Axel pulled back his hood to reveal his wild red hair and deep green eyes. Why does he have tattoos under his eyes? Confused, I blinked and looked at Roxas. He knew this man?

"Axel?" Apparently, Roxas _didn't_ know this man... I looked worriedly between the two men.

"Talk about blank with a capitol B... Man oh man; even the dusks aren't going to crash this one."

Roxas looked confused and frustrated as Axel made his way onto the arena. "Wait a sec, tell me what's going on!"

Axel ignored Roxas and looked around. "This is his creation, right? That means we don't have time for a Q & A. And who is your friend?" Axel turned towards me and I felt myself freeze from fright. Who was this strange man?

"How are you able to get past the freeze effect?"

I blinked and back up. "What...? How should I know!"

Axel shrugged and turned back towards Roxas. I felt both relieved and offended that he was ignoring me. Oh well...

"You're coming with me, conscious or not."

Suddenly, the air around us started to waver strangely. Looking around confusedly, I returned my gaze back to Roxas and Axel. Roxas looked at his weapon, Axel, and I and threw the weapon away from himself at the ground.

"What's going on?"

I jumped slightly when I saw the weapon disappear and reappear in Roxas' hand. Axel watched the blade with a thoughtful look. "Number thirteen. Roxas. The keyblade's chosen one..."

Roxas started to become angry and brandished his blade, ready to fight. I shook my head, my head starting to pound from what Axel said. "...Keyblade..." I shut my eyes fiercely as flashes of light erupted in my mind. I fell to me knees from the pain as my breathing was hard. _What was that? Was I reacting to the word Keyblade? No... I couldn't have reacted, I mean... I don't even know what the Keyblade is! ... A sword obviously but..._ I looked at Roxas and Axel, my eyes never leaving the Keyblade. I felt something welling up inside me, and for once, I felt contempt towards Roxas. Wait... He's my friend, why would I feel this way towards him?

I looked down at my hand, which was twitching with anxiousness. I felt like attacking...

"What's wrong with me...?"

Flashes of an image raced through my mind... A spear? Yes... the spear I remember from before. I felt energy pulse through me as what seemed like tendrils of shadows wrapped around my arm. It slid down off my hand, forming the outline of the spear. The compulsion to attack... it was stronger now... The spear outline started to solidify and I was able to feel cool, smooth metal in my palm. The shadows disappeared and the spear from my memory was in my hand. The cold metal felt wonderful against my skin, and the urge to fight made me stand up. Shaking from fear, I looked at the spear that I held. I felt as if I should attack Roxas... No, not Roxas, the Keyblade. Glancing at Roxas and Axel, I shook my head, throwing the spear on the ground.

"No... What the hell!" I yelled this out loud, causing Axel and Roxas to look at me briefly. I ignored both of them, but looked up towards them when a man in red robes suddenly appeared. He was facing Roxas, so I couldn't see his face. Axel smirked and backed up.

"So it was you..."

The man in red ignored Axel and kept his focus on Roxas. "This man speaks nonsense."

Axel glared at the man and looked at Roxas. "Roxas, don't let him deceive you!"

Roxas clutched his head as they both started to shout at Roxas. Worried, I hurried onto the arena, completely ignoring the spear that I had thrown. I gently touched Roxas on the shoulder. "Roxas..."

Roxas shook his head fiercely and shout into the sky. "Hayner. Pence. Olette. Yuki."

I felt my eyes widen slightly from surprise. Why did he say my name? Why did he include me with his list of friends? I know I counted him as a friend, but I didn't expect him to count me as a friend... I shook my head and gasped as Roxas started falling forward, starting to black out. "Roxas!" I caught him carefully and set him down on the ground. Looking at the man in red and then at Axel, I stood up shakily and stood in front of Roxas protectively. "Leave him alone!"

The man in red stared at me momentarily with a thoughtful face. His piercing yellow eyes boring into mine. I shivered slightly as he started to advance. "You... Who are you?"

I blinked and held my hands in front of me, ready to fight. "None of your business! Who are you to come and start confusing my friend?"

The man in red stopped a few feet in front of me. I felt my heart racing as the urge to fight was directed towards the man in red, and once again, the spear appeared in my hands. The man looked somewhat surprised for a moment. "You... You shouldn't be here... How did you get here?"

I blinked and looked at the spear, then returning my gaze to the man. "Wait, you know who I am? Tell me!"

I lowered my spear slightly and my urge to fight left. Instead, my mind was searching for answers. The man smiled to himself and he crossed his arms in front of him. "In your current state, you are no threat... so I guess I am able to leave you be. It's best you don't know who you are, for that person is better off not being here. Begin your new life, and don't interfere."

I blinked confusedly and shook my head. "Please! I hate not knowing who I am..."

I felt someone place their hand on my shoulder tightly and jumped. Looking back, I saw Axel standing there with a smirk. "Come on, you can't even tell her who she is? That's cruel... I'll tell her, and she'll come with me. She could be of use to us."

I felt my eyes widen in shock and fear as I struggled to get out of Axel's grip. "Let me go! I don't want to go with you, creep!"

Axel looked at me with an amused face and laughed. "Huh? I guess you're a creep too, because we're somewhat alike."

I blinked and stopped struggling, giving him a strange look. "Alike? I highly doubt that... now let GO! Leave me and my friend alone."

Axel sighed and looked into the sky. "Oh, I don't think I'll be letting you go anywhere... You need to know your destiny. Well, I guess we should be off now."

I shook my head and started to struggle. "Let me go!"

The man in red looked dangerously at Axel. "I believe you should let go... She isn't supposed to know who she is. It could mean disaster."

Axel smirked and held out his hand to the side, a large portal-like shadow appearing. "Disaster for you, paradise for us. Does it really matter? I mean, she could be the key to our success."

I felt Axel push me into the portal, as a cold, clammy feeling met my skin. I shuddered as I landed in some sort of tunnel that was surrounded by darkness. Looking behind me, I saw Axel appear from the portal, making it close behind him. I looked at the 'ground' under me as thoughts flooded through my mind. What does he want? What did he mean by the key to their success. How was I a disaster? I felt a hand grip my wrist as I was hoisted onto my feet. I looked back at Axel who had an emotionless expression on his face.

"This is how we travel between the worlds... Usually, this place would slowly turn a heart into darkness..." Axel then looked at me with a slight hint of amusement. "...a heart that's already consumed in darkness can't really change, can it?"

I blinked confusedly as Axel started to walk ahead of me. What did he mean by that? Did he mean that my heart was taken over by darkness? What the heck did that mean... I looked down at the spear in my hand as my eyes narrowed. I gripped the spear tightly and charged at Axel. Striking downward, Axel blocked my spear with one of his red chakram like weapons. He smirked as I pushed my spear farther, making his chakram start to fall back.

"Well, aren't we in a rush? Do you even know what you're attacking with? How you know how to fight like this? Who you and I are?"

I narrowed my eyes further and backed up, holding my spear tightly. "Why do you keep saying that crap? I just want to be with my friends... Watching Roxas become struggle champion, hanging out with the gang, and other regular things. Not fighting some random stranger who uses fire and keeps saying random stuff that I don't understand! Why did you have to take me along?"

Axel made his chakram disappear in flames and turned back in the direction he was heading. "Follow me... I'll explain some things once I introduce you to my leader."

I blinked and looked around me. Seeing as I couldn't see a clear way out of this... place, I reluctantly chose to follow Axel. At what appeared to be the end of the dark place, Axel motioned towards a portal of darkness. I sighed inwardly as I looked at it. Just more and more portal things... I think a headache will come in due time. Axel sighed and grabbed my shoulders, steering me forward towards the portal.

"Come on, it's not like it'll kill you."

I felt Axel give me one last small shove as I stumbled through the portal. When I found that I was out of the portal, I had to shield my eyes because of the brightness of the place I was in. Everything was... white. White walls, white ceiling, white everything... Except for outside the windows. When I looked outside, I saw that it was night out. I felt my heart leap when I had a look at the moon. It was shaped like a heart... Why was that? I felt a hand on my shoulder and gave a start, turning around to find Axel standing behind me and watching the moon as well.

"Kingdom Hearts...

I blinked and tilted my head. Kingdom Hearts...? Axel looked down at me and grinned.

"What? You don't remember what Kingdom Hearts is either? Geez... You really were messed up."

I shook my head and brushed his hand off my shoulder, narrowing my eyes slightly. "What is this Kingdom Hearts? It sounds really stupid..."

Axel snorted and looked to the side at my comment. I raised an eyebrow at his behavior. He seemed to notice because he started to respond. "Kingdom Hearts isn't something to scoff at, kid. Without it, none of us would be here..."

I sighed rather angrily at Axel as I blinked the bright light out of my eyes. It was starting to be a pain... Literally. "Well, are we going to talk to this 'leader' of yours, or what?"

Axel narrowed his eyes unenthusiastically and started walking up a set of stairs. "Meh... come one then." I then started to follow Axe through the ever-blinding hallways and stairs, leading to his leader's room.

--

Yep, chapter 2 is finished... Like it so far? I hope so... well, I hope to make it really interesting, so please keep reading and review!


	3. Going to Need a Lot of Paint

Thanks to a conversation with my reviewer, I found out what a self-insert was... So I changed my pen name to xMegumix... Thank you! And trust me people, this will **_not_** be a Mary sue...

--

Hallways... lots and lots of hallways. Not to mention the stairs... The walk was becoming very monotonous and I was starting to wonder just exactly who these people were. Sure, I knew Axel was some strange man who kidnaps people at random without telling them why, but hey... The other people in this place may be different. I walked into Axel when he came to an abrupt halt. Rubbing my nose gingerly, I peered around him to see a door in front of us.

"Is this where your leader is?"

Axel merely nodded, turning and facing me with a serious face. Whoa... he isn't meant for those...

"Wait here. I'll have you come in once my leader says to, and when you talk to him, don't do anything stupid..." Axel then turned and knocked on the door. A muffled response was heard before Axel left me in the hallway. Fiddling with a lock of my hair, I stared at the door anxiously. _I wonder what kind of a conversation is going on in there... By the way Axel seemed when he was about to go in, his leader must be a pretty scary guy. Great for me... _I jumped as I heard the door open. Looking up, Axel was eyeing me carefully.

"You can come in..." I nodded and tried to look calm as I entered. Geez, this whole meet the leader business is pretty freaky... Upon walking into the room I found someone in a black jacket... Everyone seems to have this thing... His back was turned towards me, so I couldn't see his face. I did see his long white hair. I stiffened when he started to speak.

"Do you know who you are...?"

I blinked and glanced back at Axel. He was watching his leader with an emotionless expression. I looked at the ground and took a breath.

"I'm just Yuki... right?"

The man was silent and turned so that he was looking at me. His eyes were yellow and he had tanned skin. It contrasted greatly with his hair and his jacket. He stared at me for a moment before responding.

"No... It's strange. Your name is contradicting to who and what you really are."

I blinked and stayed silent, waiting for him to continue. He noticed my silence and walked a few steps towards me. "Let's start with the beginning... Do you know how people came to be?"

I blinked and laughed mentally, hoping that he wouldn't see through my serious expression. I mean, duh, male plus female..."What do you mean came to be?"

"Where hearts began... I'm guessing you don't by your question. All hearts begin in darkness."

I raised an eyebrow. Darkness? He was talking about strange things...

"While the heart is in the darkness, it eventually gains it's light and emerges into the real world. All hearts have gained their lights. All except one, who is supposed to be the Heir to the Darkness. Their heart never gained it's light, but left the darkness regardless."

I blinked while watching him. Is he trying to get to something, because it wasn't really making any sense.

"The Heir to the Darkness is supposed to be able to bring darkness to all hearts once again, which would ultimately turn everyone into a heartless, also being able to control them. The Heir is destined to help the darkness overcome the light when the Keyblade master appears. No one has ever seen the Heir before, until now..."

I blinked as the man watched me curiously. Okay, I was getting really scared, yet something seemed so...

"...And who is this Heir to the Darkness?"

The man grinned and looked at his desk. "You should know the answer... why Axel had brought you to our organization isn't adding up at all?"

I thought about his words for a moment. _Wait a minute... Why _did_ Axel bring me here? I mean, when he and that red guy saw my spear thingy, the guy said I'm not sup-... Oh... Impossible!_

I looked into the man's eyes with a somewhat hysterical smile. "You're kidding me, right? You expect me to believe that I'm this 'Heir' or whatever you're talking about? You must be daft... I'm just a normal person who doesn't know what the heck is going on!"

I felt someone hit me in the back of the head and emitted a small yell. I glared at Axel, who was still holding an emotionless stare.

"Watch your tongue..."

The man in front of me continued to speak. "Don't you see? Axel told me that you were able to summon the Dark Vein."

I raised an eyebrow while touching the spot where Axel hit me gingerly. "The Dark Vein...? What's that?"

"It's the spear that the Heir to Darkness is supposed to possess." I blinked and held my hand out.

"...This?" I felt the cool tendrils crawl down my hand and form the spear. Grasping my hand into a fist, the shadows disappeared to show the spear I had discovered earlier. The man in front of me seemed to be thinking when he held out his hand. Without hesitation, I handed the spear over to him. Running his fingers over the gem on the blade, a small smile crept onto his lips.

"You will be useful... Axel, take her to a spare room on the third floor. Yuki, I expect to see you tomorrow when I have someone come summon you to our meeting chamber."

I blinked and nodded dully as he handed my spear back to me. Too much information for my brain to comprehend... I mean, this Heir business... I shook my head as Axel led me out of the room, the door shutting hard on my way out. Sighing, I turned towards Axel with a placid look on my face. He blinked and tilted his head innocently. Like that's possible...

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Well, for one, why did you have to go and hit me in the back of my head?! It hurts like hell..."

Axel blinked and shrugged while turning around. "So? Be happy I was the one who hit you..."

I crossed my arms and purposefully walked slowly so that Axel would get annoyed. "Two, why were you so uptight when you were in that guy's room? I mean, sure, he looks creepy, but still..."

Axel poked the side of my head, my eye twitching in annoyance. "If you want to survive in front of him, call him Xemnas. That's his name. He may seem a little harmless now, but he's a juggernaut when it comes to destroying your opponent. I wouldn't get caught up in a fight against him if I were you. But then again, he won't try to kill you just yet..."

I blinked as I felt a knot forming in the pit of my stomach. "He's going to kill me...?"

Axel looked at me and laughed strangely. "No, only if you don't watch yourself..."

I looked at Axel inquisitively as he just stared forward. His laugh earlier... it seemed so forced, like he didn't have the ability to laugh or something. Maybe there's more to these people than they let on... Axel seemed to notice me staring at him because he flashed a humorous grin towards me. "What? That attractive?"

I stuck out my tongue at Axel while crossing my arms. "Trust me, there's not much to look at..."

"I'm hurt..."

"Tch, yeah right..."

We started to walk in silence after this. It wasn't that awkward silence, but more of an 'I-don't-feel-like-talking' kind of silence. Once again, I found myself staring down a flight of stairs... Fun, ne? As Axel started to walk down the stairs, I stared after him, waiting for him to notice my absence. He didn't seem to notice, so I started to turn around, but found a rather large... white thing. The thing seemed to be a larger, similar version to the white things Roxas was fighting earlier that day. Backing up slowly, the thing started to fade into the ground.

"What the heck...?" I jumped out of the way as something sharp tried to stab me from below. The thing seemed to swim in the ground towards me. Only a bit creepy if you ask me. I started to run like the wind down the stairs, frantically looking for Axel.

"Axel! Where did you go?" Axel was nowhere in sight. Greaat... I turned around and saw that the thing was still following me. My heart was starting to pound as I summoned my spear. I didn't really expect to fight anything in my lifetime... as it came near me, I slashed at it with my spear. It seemed to dodge it just slightly, barely missing the menacing edge of the spear.

"Darn it... What is this thing?" I jumped back as it attacked me even more. I was getting nowhere with this, and more smaller white things came out of the ground. They seemed to have swords with them too. I was far outnumbered. Panicking, I shielded my front with my arms and shut my eyes tightly. _Please, anyone... Help me! God, I really, really don't wanna die here... I just don't want to die period!_ A small pulsation was felt through my mind, as something seemed to invade my thoughts. /_...Help... Called for... Us?/_ I didn't know how to respond. This voice just came out of nowhere. Hesitatingly, I sent a positive feeling towards the pulsation, hoping for a response. /... _As you wish.../  
_  
I opened my eyes when I felt nothing piercing my flesh, or any sort of pain for that matter. My eyes widened as I saw a large... black and purple thing in front of me. It seemed to have the body of half dog half human, while it held a shield in front of it. Turning towards me, the thing looked into my eyes. /_... My Liege.../_ I blinked and nodded dully, watching a few more of the things fighting the white things. Now that I could see the front of the other ones, I saw that the shield had a dog's head on the front. I gulped slightly and smiled weakly towards the thing protecting me. "T-thank you..."

I jumped as I felt someone clasp his or her hand on my shoulder rather hard. Turning, I saw Axel standing there with a bored look on his face. "I take it you caused this...?"

The thing protecting me growled menacingly, the shield also starting to growl. Axel held up his hands and backed up a step. "Whoa, don't worry, I'm not an enemy here..."

The thing looked at me after Axel spoke. _/...Should... Destroy him?/_ I blinked and shook my head vigorously. "No! No, h-he's a friend... I guess. Axel, call off those... things, and my protectors will go away... for lack of a better word..."

Axel nodded and held out his hand. The white things then disappeared, leaving Axel, the black and purple things, and me. I nodded to the things and they disappeared into the shadows. I shook my head as the walls began to spin. Axel looked at me with a strange look. "Whoa, are you okay?"

"Dizzy..." I then started to black out, feeling myself fall onto my knees before losing all consciousness.

--

_I felt a familiar darkness around me, but I couldn't quite place it. Walking forward, I dully noted the hollow sound resonating off of the floors and echoing into the darkness. Thinking about nothing in particular, I came upon a large area of light. Shielding my eyes, I backed up a few steps as I noticed a figure walking into the light. I blinked a few tears out of my eyes and walked forward to get a better look. My eyes widened as I noticed who it was._

"Roxas?!" Roxas turned towards me, but faded into someone else. Someone who had dark brown hair, but had the same dark blue eyes. My heart thumped as the boy held the Keyblade that Roxas had when I last saw him. I shook my head and felt the same _intent to attack. The Keyblade... My head pounded as pain erupted through my body. The last thing I saw was the boy, who seemed to be glowing slightly from the bright floor beneath him._

--

Opening my eyes, I found myself in sitting position against the wall. Axel was a few feet away talking with another person in a black coat. My head was pounding as I stared at the white walls. Everything must have white in it somewhere... The guy in the black coat disappeared into a portal and Axel faced me. Offering me a hand, he pulled me up as my head started to relieve itself of the pounding sensation. He looked at me rather puzzled as I dusted off whatever dirt might have collected on my pants. Blinking, I crossed my arms in front of me.

"What? Something on your mind?"

"Those heartless... I didn't expect you to know how to call upon them. Especially since they were rather strong ones."

I shrugged and turned around, looking around the hall for any trace of the fight between the heartless and the other things.

"I didn't know how... They just sort of... talked to me, I guess. They came when they knew I was in trouble. Is that supposed to happen?"

Axel shrugged and started walking down the hallway, placing his hand behind his head. "I dunno. Anyways, I gotta show you your room and whatnot or the boss-man will get angry. Tch, man that guy really bugs me..."

I tilted my head towards Axel as I caught up to him, matching his rather quick pace. "I thought that... The boss... wait a minute, I'm confused here."

Axel looked at me with an unreadable expression. "I may obey him, but it doesn't mean I respect him or anything. If it were up to me, I would have him be the first to go."

I blinked and faced the direction we were walking in once again. Man, Axel's an enigma if I've ever met one... Remembering what I saw while I blacked out, I decided that I should ask Axel if he knew anything about the Keyblade and it's master.

"Hey, Axel..."

Axel turned towards me as I stopped walking. Staring at my shadow on the ground, I tried to remember what the boy looked like in my dream.

"What exactly is the Keyblade?"

Axel looked rather surprised, or something like that, and sighed slightly. "Well... I guess you can say that it's supposed to be the key to all hearts, being able to open any kind of lock, and can get rid of darkness. Why?"

I watched my shadow twitch slightly, and for a moment, I thought I saw a pair of eyes. Shaking my head, I shrugged and continued walking. "Well, Roxas had a Keyblade... and Xemnas told me that I'm supposed to be the darkness... So, this whole destiny of mine, am I supposed to kill Roxas? Or... Is he supposed to kill me?"

Axel said nothing, but placed a hand on my shoulder. "We'll find out, won't we? For now though, you're alive, and you have to work on your abilities. Where did this whole idea come from anyway?"

"Well, when I blacked out, I had a dream... thing. I saw Roxas, but he turned into some other boy who had the Keyblade. So, I was just curious... Do you have any idea who that person might have been?"

Axel was silent again, but this time, he didn't say anything. I looked at his face, and he seemed kind of... out of it. Shrugging, I decided to get off the somewhat dark topic... I mean... whatever. I gave Axel a grin and started to push him down the hallway, seeing as he sort of just stopped walking.

"Ne, aren't you supposed to show me to my room? C'mon, you slug. I don't think we have all day to get there."

Axel blinked as I somewhat happily pushed him down the hallway. I mean, how happy can I get, knowing I'm in some strange place with a bunch of cult-ish people who think I'm this 'heir'? Axel smiled somewhat and started to walk on his own.

"Yeah, yeah. Just come on, it's not that far from here."

--

We arrived at my room a few minutes later. It was rather small, but I didn't mind. I mean, what did I expect, a suite? Watching the white walls around me, I absently spaced out as my shadow started to twitch again. I caught the flicker of movement in the corner of my eye and jumped from surprise. I mean, how often does your shadow move on it's own? Out of my shadow cam a rather small... creature. It was all black and had yellow eyes; it's antennae twitching about as it observed the room. It then looked at me as it tilted its head to the side. /..._Liege... all right? Seem... depressed./_ I nodded slightly, the black thing approaching me slowly, as if being very careful.

"I-i'm fine... Um... why are you here?"

The black thing stopped about a foot in front of me as its eyes scanned the walls. /_Watching the suspicious one... seems like... other nobodies. I don't feel... heartbeat from him. Hearts... beckon us._/

I blinked and tilted my head to the side, keeping sure to not make a big fuss so that other people would be able to hear us. "A nobody? What are those?"

/_Nobody... white things. Other half... of heartless. Nobodies body... Heartless souls... Together, make human. Liege human, red man... nobody./_

I blinked in surprise by this information. Axel was a nobody? I couldn't believe that he was like one of those white things. Surely he was human. But then again, it could explain why his emotions seemed so forced... I would have to test this heartless' theory when I got a chance. I looked around the room when I didn't hear anything else from the heartless, but found that I was alone. It had left me... I mean, I couldn't really blame it. I was a rather boring person to be around, and the white walls... Blinding to say the least. Sighing, I lay down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I would have to get a lot of paint someday...

--

Okay, it's finished... Thank you everyone for reading this story! I have two pictures of Yuki up in my profile if you want to see what she should look like. It's not all that great, mind you, and that was before I really tried to plan how she should look. Well... Anywhose, please review!


	4. The Die is Cast

Falling... I felt like I was slightly fa-.

"Ah! What the hell?" I rubbed my head from my abrupt landing on the floor. Looking at the sheets tangled around me, I glared heatedly at whoever pushed me off of my bed. I found Axel standing at my side with a slightly humorous look upon his face.

"About time you woke up. I swear, I could yell at you all day and it wouldn't reach you... Sooo, I pushed you off of your bed."

I slowly got up, gripping my pillow tightly. I started to hit Axel repeatedly over the head with it in response to his none too gentle wake up call. "Why do you have to knock me off of my bed?! I would have woken up if you just knocked on the door! Imbecile..."

Axel caught the pillow and kept me from hitting him in the head any more, much to my demise. "Well, I'll keep that in mind... Anyway, you better hurry up and get ready. I'm supposed t bring you to the meeting chambers..."

I paused for a moment. "Meeting...? Oh! Right. Well, there's not much I can actually do to get ready, so... on we go?"

Axel nodded and started walking out of the room, in which I followed suit. Once again, hallways... I sighed inwardly, gazing about with a bored expression. My shadow caught my eye, which seemed to have to yellow eyes again. _That's right... the heartless from yesterday. It was talking about nobodies and... Axel. It said Axel is a nobody... Should I ask him? I mean, if Nobodies have no hearts, that means no emotions. So, I guess he couldn't actually feel mad or sad about it if he were a nobody. Right? Ugh... So complicated..._ I glanced at Axel, who was staring straight ahead as usual. _But... he could seem so normal... How could he be a nobody? Hmm..._ I shook my head and glanced at my shadow once again, but the eyes were gone. _Geez, that little guy sure does like hide and seek... Does it really think there's something wrong with this? I wonder what's going to happen in the meeting room... Oh well._ I jumped when I almost ran headfirst into a wall, but luckily, Axel grabbed my shoulder before I did.

"Man, you're really out of it... Did you hit your head too hard or something?"

I stuck my tongue out at him and crossed my arms. "No... I was just thinking about some things."

"Oh? What kind of things?"

I blinked and grinned, waving off his question. "Ah, it was nothing... nothing that I can't handle later, anyway. Now, don't we have to get to this meeting place?"

Axel nodded and pointed to a door a little ways to our left. "That's it..."

I blinked and stated to follow Axel as we approached the door. Axel pulled up his hood before he opened on the door. Strange... Maybe they really are from a cult. Axel led me into the room, which was white. White, white, white, white, white... Man, don't these guys get tired of it? My eyes widened as I saw the huge seats in which six people sat. Axel went into his seat, leaving me on the ground. Now don't I feel awkward... I looked at the remaining six seats and wondered if there were others coming to the meeting. I took it as a no, because the one in the highest chair started to speak.

"Now, this meeting was called because we happened to come across... an important piece to our plan. Most of you have probably heard what this piece is by now, but if you have not, then we shall introduce you. Yuki..."

I stiffened, awaiting orders or some sort of command from the highest chairperson.

"Yuki is the heir that legend has talked about. The Heir to the Darkness. Knowing this, you all should be able to guess her role in our plans, but now I must explain some things for her."

"Yuki, I hear that you have discovered your ability to conjure heartless, correct?"

I nodded, not daring to say anything. I'm guessing tat it was Xemnas who was addressing me, because he sounded sort of familiar.

"Good. Now, you must know your role in helping us... There is the Keyblade master, who is destined to try to rid the worlds of darkness."

My hand tightened into a fist at the thought of fighting the Keyblade master, Roxas.

"I need you to try to challenge him with heartless. The more he actually defeats, the more hearts are released from the heartless. These hearts will help us reach our goal. Now, there are other people who are giving in to darkness, and trying to harness the power of darkness besides you. You will start to be able to tell when someone else is using the power of darkness, because they are using a part of you. You will feel a sort of... link. You need to familiarize yourself with these people and keep an eye on them. We can't have them ruining our plans because of their want of your powers."

I blinked and nodded, trying to retain the information he was giving me. People using darkness? I didn't know others would be able to harness it with light in their hearts... I snapped my head upwards towards Xemnas.

"Um... Won't that eventually just turn them into heartless themselves? I mean, their hearts will turn to darkness..."

Xemnas nodded, his hood keeping any expression from being seen on his face. "Yes, eventually they will. Only you will be able to truly control the darkness without being consumed, based on your... history. Now, I ask that you exit the room for now, for there are things that we must talk about that don't concern you."

I nodded, knowing not to try to pry into business that wasn't my own. I started walking towards the door when Xemnas started to address me again. "I'll have someone come after you soon to help you control your power, seeing as you clearly lack experience."

I nodded, pushing the doors open and walking into the hallway. I heard the door shut tightly behind me, forbidding any noise to leak out of the room. I sighed and slid down the wall by the door. Great, I get to wait for who knows how long until I could get a babysitter. Just my luck... As I sat against the wall, the heartless from before came out of my shadow. I jumped a little from the startle, but otherwise relaxed at seeing the small creature in front of me.

"Oh, it's you... What's up?"

The small creature twitched about, his head constantly keeping watch around him. _/Liege... Something wrong... The high one... dangerous... Keyblade destroy us... his goal./_

I blinked and lowered my head, not wanting to look the heartless in the eye. Heartless actually have emotions...

"I really don't know what to do now... If he wants to destroy you guys... then... Argh, I can't just defy him though, Axel said he'd kill me. I still have to help you guys, according to that legend. What should I do?"

The heartless was motionless for once. It seemed to be thinking about something, when it held out a clawed hand. A dark light emitted from the air above his palm and a small charm started to form. The light vanished, and the charm fell onto the heartless' hand, blending in with it's black skin. The heartless dropped the charm a few inches away from my hand, the charm attached to black thread. /_Charm... help you... we... help you. Be careful... dangerous here_./ The heartless then vanished into my shadow once again, but it was gone for good this time. Blinking, I picked up the small black charm. Strange... the charm insignia looked vaguely familiar. It seemed like a heart, but... Shaking my head, I tied the string around my wrist a few times, making a small bracelet out of the trinket.

"There, I shouldn't lose it now... I hope."

My head snapped towards the door close to my left and expected to see Axel coming out, but instead, a man with blonde hair and a goatee stood in his place. The man looked at me with a thoughtful look before starting to walk down the hall.

"Come on, Xemnas wants me to start your training now."

Blinking, I stood up a bit confusedly. _I could have sworn Axel would have been my tutor..._ I shook my head and ran to catch up with the blonde man, who was already a good way down the hallway.

"Ah, wait up!"

The man stopped momentarily and looked back at me. He shrugged and started walking again as soon as I neared him.

"Well, seems like this is going to be fun..." The man started to look at the ground while he walked, his hand under his chin in thought. This guy really did think a lot... I tilted my head to the side and looked at the strange man.

"Excuse me, but... who are you?"

The man looked up after I addressed him. "Luxord... and I already know that you're Yuki, correct...?"

I nodded, fingering the charm that the heartless had given me. It felt like ice, no warmth at all... Luxord eyed my charm and smirked slightly. He said nothing, but stopped in front of a door. He opened it and led me into a white room. Strange, it had a booth higher up... For watching what though...? Luxord walked towards me and eyed the bracelet on my wrist.

"So... what is this? Something valuable, I presume?"

I nodded after hesitating for a moment. Why would he ask about the-. "Hey! Give that back!"

Luxord now held the bracelet, the charm dangling a little from the string. Luxord smirked and started to walk towards the center of the room.

"I'll play a little game with you... if you win, I'll give you your trinket. If I win, I keep it until you win another bet. Deal?"

I blinked and nodded. Not much else I could do about it, I mean, if Axel had control of flames, who knows what this guy could do... Luxord nodded and put the bracelet in one of his pockets. He then crossed his arms and looked at the ceiling.

"Okay, here's how we play... I'll give you five minutes to be able to get rid of all the nobodies I call out, but you can't use the heartless your able to summon. There are no other rules, so by all means, try your hardest. Are you ready?"

I nodded, waiting for him to pull out as many heartless that he could, but blinked in disbelief when he summoned only two nobodies... that were cards... I felt my eye twitching and crossed my arms. "What the heck? Do you want to lose or something? I mean, come on... this is going to be easy!"

Luxord smirked and held his hand out at me. "Oh, really?" I then started to feel rather... strange. Before I knew it, it seemed as if I were shrinking. I blinked and went to charge at him, but found that I had been turned into a die. _What the hell? I guess this guy's power has something to do with games... Agh, this is aggravating._ I then attempted to jump, and found that, surprisingly, I was capable of doing it. I started to jump towards the nobody, but it seemed to get out of reach easily. I sighed and tried to go after it again. Each time I would get close, it would move away again.

"Damn it, how am I supposed to fight like this?"

Luxord crossed his arms and leaned against a wall that he had been near. "This training session's objective: thinking outside of the box, not making any puns here... Anyway, try to think of other ways you could defeat the enemy besides head on attacking, or using help from others. You have to be able to get out of situations on your own if you want to survive. The art of gambling is mostly thought and perception. Put a little effort into thinking for this, and you just might win. Remember, there are four minutes and ten seconds left."

I sighed inwardly and looked at the nobodies that seemed to be mocking me. _How am I supposed to think about things when I only have five freaking minutes?! Hmm... I could always try experimenting with this darkness stuff that everyone's talking about. What have I got to lose? I mean, Heir to the Darkness, dark powers... duh._ I closed my eyes and concentrated on my form. Somehow, he was able to turn me into a die, so I need to figure out a way to get out of that form. That's the base of the problem. I felt for the darkness that I had encountered when summoning my spear. Slowly, after recognizing the strange power, I began to send dark energy throughout my system. I started to feel a pulsing energy within my veins, a chaotic, feral instinct twitching through every muscle. I opened my eyes and tried to stretch my limbs, breaking free of whatever spell Luxord had put on me. Luxord seemed a it surprised, but not afraid. In fact, he seemed somewhat intrigued.

"So... you've discovered how to extract darkness from within... that's good. You just might win, but there's only one minute left. Can you defeat the nobodies in time?"

I growled darkly, a mad grin on my face. "I'll destroy them all right..."

I ran at the first nobody and automatically put my hand into a claw formation. It just happened on instinct, which surprised me. I quickly forgot it and started to claw at the card-like nobody, and for some reason, I felt like sinking my teeth into flesh and blood... I disregarded my bloodlust and finished the card off with a slash through it's middle. I felt a small twinge of satisfaction.

"Only one mo-."

"Time's up."

I blinked in disbelief and looked at Luxord. I growled at him and felt my anger rise. "What do you mean time's up?!"

Luxord tapped his wrist as if signaling a watched and dismissed the other nobody. "Time's up. It's been exactly five minutes, and you lost the bet after you took so long to figure out how to get out of that die form I put you in. That cost you three minutes, plus the forty seconds you took to actually try to gather the darkness within you. Then you took up the rest of your time fighting the first nobody. In other words, I get to keep your bracelet until you win another game. Just so you know, you are to have training sessions two days a week. You better get to know your powers better before your next lesson, or else it'll be a long time until you see your bracelet again. Well, on to some more training..."

I sighed and started to relax, feeling the darkness leave me. "Whatever... That was a cheap trick... turning me into a die like that. I thought you just said that I had to defeat the other heartless."

Luxord tutted slightly while waving his finger at me. "I also said there were no other rules... so turning you into a die was legitimate. Now, for our next little piece of instruction, I want you to stand right where you are..."

I blinked and tilted my head to the side. "That's it?"

Luxord gave me a look that was quite unreadable, his eyes furrowing slightly. "That's not all, you dolt... Now, you know how to summon heartless, yes?"

I nodded.

"Good... now, do you know how to limit the amount of dark energy you use to summon them?"

I shook my head no, crossing my arms over my stomach. "I can limit the power I use? How?"

Luxord sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Well, that's what we're going to learn now. If you would stop asking so many questions, we might actually be able to get to the little lesson. Now, any more questions?"

I shook my head and Luxord nodded. "Good... now, limiting your power is quite simple. All you have to do is feel the energy that flows through you when you're about to use it, and cut off all the energy at a certain point in which you don't wish to use any more power. Got everything so far?"

I nodded. I mean, the information seemed simple enough... Luxord nodded also, stretching an arm out to the side. "Good. Now, as an example, I'll summon one of the lowest forms of nobodies, crawlers. You may not be able to know how much energy I release, but I only use the minimal amount necessary to summon them."

Luxord almost immediately summoned a nobody. I laughed inwardly, for the thing was rather... small. _I wonder what the weakest form of heartless looks like... I mean, that one heartless that keeps hiding in my shadow seems about that size, so... is it one of the weakest ones?_ I shrugged to myself as Luxord dismissed his nobody.

"Now, you give it a shot and see what happens."

I nodded enthusiastically. At least this time, he wouldn't turn me into a gambling piece... I held out my hand slightly and focused on the dark energy I possessed. Once again, I felt the darkness flowing through my veins. The only question is, when do I cut it off...? I stopped the flow of power and released what darkness I gathered to summon a heartless. I closed my eyes and tried to summon one, feeling a heavy thud on the ground beside me. I opened my eyes and blinked at the sight in front of me. The heartless was rather... tubby? Yes... Tubby is a good word for it. Luxord crossed his arms as he looked at the heartless.

"I don't think that it's the weakest heartless... It's almost there, though. Now, try it again. You have to get used to limiting your energy, or else you'll end up exhausting yourself in battle."

I nodded and dismissed the heartless, ready to try it again.

--

For the rest of my training time, I was trying to summon my weakest heartless. You would think that summoning a strong heartless would be harder, but no... It's the little ones that are harder. Knowing when to cut off your power... feh. I doubt I'd be able to get it next time... Some Heir I am. I sighed and slumped against the wall by my bed. I was tired and bored, not a very fun combination... Oh well, maybe I could hunt down Axel and bug him for the rest of the day... I nodded to myself, as if reassuring myself that I would snap out of my boredom. Let's just hope I don't get lost in this place...

--

Yaaay, new chapter... I hope you all like it! Well, thanks for reading, and please review! Oh yeah, if you didn't catch it last chapter, there are pictures of Yuki in my profile thingy... Well, Ja ne!


	5. Fun with Xigbar

Hey everyone! From here on out, I'm going to stop using, "I," and say Yuki. Okay then, on to the story!

--

Yuki slowly made her way down the never-ending hallway. So far, it had been half an hour since she decided to find Axel. She could have sworn she was circling, but she couldn't say for certain. The only thing that was a constant to her was the fact that there were always windows showing Kingdom Hearts. Sighing, Yuki looked at her shadow. For once, there were no yellow eyes following her.

"Great, the one time I need help, he isn't here... Or is it a she? Whatever. I'm so _bored_..." Yuki slid down against the wall on her right and sat on the floor. It was nice and cold, feeling nice against her warm hands. Yuki decided to wait and see if anyone would come down the hallway. She doubted that anyone would, but she knew better than to keep wandering and wasting energy. Yuki leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

"Geez, why is this place so darn big? I mean, you would think that they get tired of so much space. How do they keep from getting lost?"

"I don't know... I guess we just kind of got used to it."

Yuki's eyes snapped open and she turned to her right. Standing in front of her was another organization member, except his hood was up so she couldn't tell who it was. Blinking, Yuki stood up and dusted her pants off.

"Finally, a life form. So, who exactly are you?"

The hooded person took off their hood, revealing a young man not much older than she was. He had funky hair though... Was it a mullet? Or was it just... there? Yuki shrugged off the thought.

"The names Demyx, number nine in the organization. Why are you out here? I thought you would be somewhere else... I mean, the whole training thing, right?"

Yuki shrugged, still confused with Demyx's hair. "Luxord said our session was over, so I was trying to find Axel... and here I am now."

Demyx smiled and started walking down the hallway. "Well, you wouldn't be able to find him anyway. He was just sent on a mission during your session with Luxord. Dunno when he'll be back."

Yuki blinked and jogged up to Demyx, walking by his side. "Hey, don't leave me behind there! Who knows when I would find any other people."

Demyx shrugged and shoved his hands in the pockets of his cloak. "Whatever. Why don't you just use shadow portals? I mean, you have dark powers, so surely you would be able to get around easily with them, right?"

Yuki furrowed her brows and crossed her arms. "You mean those dark oval-ish things you guys dragged me here with? Didn't know what they were... Nope, I can't use them. Never tried."

Demyx looked at Yuki with a strange look. "You're the Heir to the Darkness, and you can't even summon a simple shadow portal? God, who knew you'd be so useless..."

"Hey! It's not like I even knew about this whole Heir to the Darkness thing until I came here. I didn't even know what heartless were until Xemnas explained them to me."

Demyx laughed and shook his head. "Wow, you really are dull. How could you not know that kind of thing?"

"Well, _I **don't**_ know... I mean, if I don't even know my own _age, family, or **home**_, I guess I _should_ be able to know about something like _this_..."

Demyx rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Whatever... So, what are you going to do now?"

Yuki blinked. "Huh? What do you mean 'now'?"

"I mean, what are you going to do now that Axel isn't here?"

Yuki shrugged, following Demyx around a left turn. "I dunno... guess I'll just explore... and get lost some more."

"You're so boring... I know! Let's go bug Xigbar!"

Yuki cocked her head to the side. "Who's Xigbar?"

Demyx grinned, putting his hands behind his head. "He's some strange dude who's fun to annoy... Wanna come?"

Yuki shrugged. "Sure, not like I have anything else to do..."

Demyx nodded and grabbed Yuki's arm, pulling her backwards through a shadow portal.

--

Demyx and Yuki appeared in a white room... How original in the place. Yuki found a man with a long ponytail using some sort of gun to shoot at huge nobodies. The thing that really got Yuki was that the man was in the air shooting downwards at them Yuki blinked and the man disappeared. She then heard someone land behind her. Yuki turned around and saw that the man also had an eye patch over his right eye and a scar under his left cheek. He raised an eyebrow and turned to Demyx.

"What are you two doing here?"

Demyx grinned and crossed his arms. "I was bored and dragged a victim into the mess of fun."

Xigbar shrugged and looked at the oncoming nobodies. Yuki felt her stomach sink as they raised gigantic swords at them. Yuki felt someone pull her back as laser like shards pierced the nobodies in front of her. Unfortunately, they only hit the swords. Xigbar disappeared again and appeared behind the nobodies, shooting them in their backs. All of the nobodies vanished and Xigbar's weapons disappeared. Yuki blinked and watched Xigbar walk over to Demyx. _Whoa, I'd hate to have this guy as an opponent... I can't even follow his movements! Are all organization members this powerful? I know Axel is, and here Xigbar seems unbeatable... I wonder if Demyx is this good._ As if to answer her question, a yell broke Yuki from her thoughts.

Yuki blinked as she saw Xigbar shooting after Demyx, who was trying to run away while holding onto a large instrument resembling a Sitar. Yuki stepped back as Demyx started running towards her; Xigbar grinning as Demyx ran. Demyx grabbed Yuki and started to use her as a shield, grinning over Yuki's shoulder. He watched as Xigbar thought from his place in the air.

"Just try to get me now, old man! Xemnas will have your head if you get her in the crossfire."

Xigbar shrugged and grinned once again. "I know how to fire at you without hitting her anyway."

Demyx smiled nervously and Yuki was looking nervously at Xigbar as he shot to the side. The shards disappeared in a portal, leaving Yuki confused.

"Hit the deck!" Yuki's ears rang as Demyx yelled right next to her ear. Yuki's eyes widened as the shards appeared out of a portal behind them. Demyx dropped to the ground to avoid the shards, and Yuki froze in her spot. She instantly reacted and held her arm out in front of her, the Dark Vein appearing as she blocked the shards with it. Yuki's heart pounded in her ears as she looked down at Demyx.

"What the hell are you doing?! Don't get me caught in your mess!"

Demyx looked up at Yuki with sad face and pouted. "But Xigbar was attacking! I needed help, so you're my reinforcement."

Yuki stepped back as Xigbar's guns reloaded. Yuki looked back at Demyx and shook her head. "You're crazy! I can't fight _him_!"

Demyx smiled. "Two weak people can make a strong team!"

Yuki jumped as she heard Xigbar begin to speak. "Well, if your joining in, then you better run."

Yuki panicked and yanked Demyx up from the ground. "You got us in the mess, you're sure as hell going to help out instead of running."

Demyx blinked and smiled nervously. "Yes, Ma'am." Demyx tightened his grip on his weapon and Yuki started to allow the darkness to flow within her once again. She felt the adrenaline rush as the feral instinct returned. Yuki felt herself grin madly and felt her pupils dilating. Demyx looked at Yuki strangely.

"What are you looking at?" Yuki gasped mentally when she heard how offensive she stated the question. Demyx pointed at Yuki.

"You're pupils are like slits now. Sorta like a reptile's... or something like that. Not to mention you have... fangs? No... They're not that big... but they're prominent." Yuki faced Xigbar and grinned. "Cool..."

Yuki felt the Dark Vein disappear and shrugged mentally. It would come when she needed it. Demyx faced Xigbar as well and started playing his instrument. Immediately, a bunch of clones of Demyx appeared, except they were made of water. Yuki disregarded it and charged at Xigbar. Xigbar was calm, carefully keeping an eye on both the clones and Yuki. Yuki jumped up at Xigbar and started clawing at him, as she did with the cards. Xigbar retained a few of the swipes but blocked most of them, keeping his calm demeanor. Yuki landed and scowled at Xigbar, watching as he disappeared. Yuki raised an eyebrow and turned around as she saw Demyx shoot a bunch of bubbles at Xigbar, who was, in turn, shooting at Demyx. Yuki cocked her head to the side.

"You're using _bubbles_? Well, if that isn't weak at all..."

Xigbar snorted and vanished again, reloading his guns when he appeared in the corner of the room. "Yeah, exactly what I thought the first time he shot them at me. Those actually have some sting to them."

Yuki laughed to herself and felt the dark energy she had used going away. "What? Come on... Why are my powers going away...? Is that a temporary boost or something?"

"Yuki! Quit mumbling to yourself and duck!"

Yuki's head snapped up as she saw shards flying at her. She crossed her arms in front of her but didn't feel any impact. Instead, a bunch of water hit her face. Blinking, Yuki watched as a water clone turned into a puddle of water. Yuki smiled at Demyx and faced Xigbar again while summoning the Dark Vein.

"All righty then... What else can this thing do?" Yuki gripped the spear tightly as the gem on the blade glinted dangerously. Suddenly, Yuki felt a little faint. Yuki closed her eyes as it seemed like there was a blinding light in front of her.

Yuki reopened her eyes and started to worry. She was definitely not with Xigbar and Demyx. Surrounding Yuki was darkness, save for the floor of light beneath her. In front of her was a stone pedestal, and atop it was a woman, who was sitting in the opposite direction. The woman's hair was silvery and metallic, falling short at her chin and quite layered. She was wearing a simple white dress that had a single black sash. The woman turned her head towards Yuki, revealing one lilac eye.

"So you came..."

Yuki blinked. This is the last place Yuki expected to find such a nice looking woman to be. Wait a minute... double take.

"Wait, did you bring me here?"

The woman simply stared at Yuki, sizing her down with a hawk like stare. The woman nodded, standing atop the pedestal. She lightly jumped down and started to walk towards Yuki. "I was wondering when you would respond to me... You know me very well, and yet you don't know me at all. I was wondering if my call would reach you. Now, tell me, Yuki. Do you know who you are?"

Yuki blinked, the woman's gaze was unwavering as she waited for Yuki to respond. Yuki nodded. "Yeah, I'm Yuki. Except everyone keeps telling me that I'm this Heir to the Darkness. Now, who are you?"

The woman smiled and placed her hand on Yuki's forehead. "You already know who I am... yet, it seems your knowledge of me has faded. I guess it's pointless to try to revive your knowledge, so I guess I need to re-introduce myself. You know me as the Dark Vein, but my real name is..."

Yuki didn't hear what the woman sad after that. It was as if something was blocking her words. Yuki cocked her head to the side. "I didn't quite catch that... could you repeat your name?"

The woman sighed, crossing her arms in front of her. "I guess you don't truly believe... It seems your resurrection will have to wait until later, when you are truly willing to acknowledge the truth."

Yuki shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about. What do you mean by the truth?"

The lady blinked smiling sadly at Yuki. "I'm sorry, my friend. I cannot answer you, for our time is running short. I can only suppress the real world for so long as we talk. I will talk to you again soon, but for now, you must leave. Before you go, though, I shall give you one hint of knowledge. Come, lend me your hand."

Yuki looked at the lady with wonder. What the heck was she talking about, and where is 'here'? How can she suppress the real world? Yuki shrugged off her question and held out her hand. The lady smiled and gently took it in hers. "Good, you still trust me. Now, I grant you the knowledge of the Dark Palm."

Yuki watched as shadows crept up her arm in weird patterns. It then faded into her skin while leaving a stinging sensation. The lady let go of Yuki's hand and stepped back a few paces.

"Until we meet again."

The floor seemed to glow with a blinding intensity, forcing Yuki to shield her eyes from the light.

--

Yuki once again opened her eyes. Before her was Xigbar and Demyx, both in the same places as before. Xigbar had started to run at Demyx, his weapons vanishing into the air. Yuki watched as Demyx fended Xigbar off with a bunch of water clones. Xigbar then grabbed one and swung it around him, knocking it into the other clones surrounding it before releasing it where it vanished into thin air. Yuki smiled to herself and gripped her spear, ready to be Demyx's reinforcement.

"Two weak people make a strong team... Alrighty then, lets see what this Dark Palm is..."

Yuki clenched her free hand and watched the shadows that fused into her arm reappear with the same stinging sensation. Yuki then charged towards Xigbar, her palm facing him while she gathered dark energy into her palm. She then forced her hand into Xigbar's back, releasing the built up energy. Xigbar gave a yell and jumped to the side, his arm clutching his side.

"What the hell was that?!"

Yuki blinked and looked at her hand. "I don't really know myself... a new technique, I guess. Did it hurt that much?"

Xigbar scowled and rubbed his side. "I felt that throughout my whole body. It was sort of like a cold shock or something..."

Yuki looked down at her hand with interest. The lady must have given her the knowledge of something powerful for it to hurt Xigbar. Yuki glanced at her spear and smiled. She quietly whispered 'thank you' to it and looked up. "I think this is enough for now, don't you? I'm pretty tired..."

Xigbar grinned and scoffed. "What, you're tired already? Man, Luxord has a lot of work ahead of him... Well, so long for now, dudes. I have to go tend to some business if we're through."

Xigbar disappeared, leaving both Yuki and Demyx behind. Demyx blinked and grinned at Yuki. "That was fun. Maybe next time we should bug Saiix."

Yuki blinked, giving Demyx an inquisitive look. "Is he stronger than Xigbar?"

Demyx thought for a minute. "I dunno... he might be a little stronger, but not by much. If anything, I'd say they're equals, save for he's not as nice as Xigbar. He must have a stick up his or something..."

Yuki gave Demyx a flat look. "Then no, please don't bring me into this again. I'm beat, and I doubt I would have lasted any longer. I swear, you people are crazy if you have this kind of strength."

Demyx shrugged. "Well then, I guess you and me are the only ones who aren't crazy because I'm not that great of a fighter. Yep, two peas of a pod..."

Yuki laughed slightly and followed Demyx as he started to walk out of the room. "Me like you? That's an interesting thought..."

--  
Hey people! I hope you like this chapter. I know it's a bit choppy. But I'm trying to hurry and get to her missions from Xemnas. Oh wells... Remember to vote for who you want Yuki to be paired with (unless you want her to be alone, which is fine) when you review! Thank you!


	6. Quick, the Bed!

Hey everyone, it's the next chapter! So far you guys have voted one for Sora/RoxasxOC and one for AxelxOC. Get your votes in soon, for I plan to end the polls in five chapters at the most. Anywhose, thank you to my lovely reviewers!

--

It had been a while since Yuki and Demyx's session with Xigbar, and Demyx had long since abandoned Yuki at her room when a cloaked organization member told him that he had to see Xemnas. Yuki was then forced to sit in her room, bored as ever. She stared at the plain white walls with disinterest, feeling her life drain away with the pounding silence.

'_Yuki..._'

Yuki's head shot up, looking around and finding no one. Not even the little heartless that liked to play hide and seek. Yuki furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. "I must have used too much energy or something..."

'_Yuki, come._'

Almost instantly after she heard those words, Yuki's eyes began to droop on her as she fell back onto her bed.

--

Yuki blinked her eyes, for the blinding floor greeted her first. Once again, Yuki found that she was in that dark place with the strange lady, Dark Vein, whatever you want to call her. The lady was standing atop the pedestal again as Yuki rubbed the tears out of her eyes.

"Hello again, Yuki. I'm glad you came."

Yuki shook her head and nodded. "Yeah, sure... Wait a minute; what's the point of brining me here if I have to leave soon anyway? Didn't you say something about not being able to suppress something or another?"

The lady smiled. "Since you were in your room, if I didn't suppress the real world, it would merely look like you were sleeping if anyone found you. You wouldn't have been able to explain yourself if they saw you fall during your battle. Now, more importantly..."

The lady stepped off the pedestal and walked towards Yuki. "You seem to be able o grasp the Dark Palm well, except you do not know how to limit the energy you output. This is dangerous, for if you used too much, you would have killed that man."

Yuki's eyes widened. She could have killed Xigbar? Impossible... The lady nodded at Yuki's response.

"I see you seem to realize the gravity of the matter. So, while you are here, I shall teach you how to limit your dark energy. I know that that one man, Luxord was it? Yes... he tried to teach you, but he could not explain it, for it varies with each person. Since we are one of the same, I shall help you. Now, first we must warm up... Are you ready?"

Yuki blinked. This lady seemed at least 20 to 30 years old, so is it really okay to fight her? Yuki shrugged the question off and nodded. "Uh, sure... I guess."

The lady nodded. "Good. Now, ready yourself..."

Yuki's eyes widened as the lady vanished. She looked around to find her, but she wasn't anywhere. "You're using the same technique as Xigbar..."

"Yes and no... We both vanish momentarily, but..."

Yuki yelled as a kick to her back threw her a couple feet. "He uses his pure speed, while I use dark magic. He is actually above my level, and his technique is not learnable, for he has trained himself long and hard to attain his power. We shall never be able to learn his technique so long as we live. I merely let the shadows bring me into their space and appear where I wish. That is the difference in power."

Yuki coughed, standing back up while pain erupted down her back. "Well, that's fun... What exactly is the point of this warm up?"

The lady smiled. "It's for you to trust your instincts, for I'm using attacks that allow your dark powers to help you. For example, location... If I were to disappear, you would have to find me. Since I'm using dark powers..."

"Then I should be able to sense you using it... Oh yeah, Xemnas was telling me something about this at the meeting. I get it."

The lady nodded once again. "Good... Now, here I go... Trust the shadows around you."

The lady vanished. Yuki sighed and closed her eyes. What good are shadows if there's a blinding light beneath you? Yuki furrowed her eyebrows as she waited for something. Anything that would let her know... And then it hit her. She suddenly felt like something was linking herself to something else. It was as if a small, unbreakable thread were leading to something... Yuki smiled slightly and opened her eyes. Unfortunately, Yuki had found the link a little too late and felt a punch collide with her stomach. Yuki coughed hard while momentarily losing her wind. Yuki staggered back and slowly took a few breaths. The woman nodded and rotated her wrist.

"Good, you found me a second before impact. You're improving, but I won't stop until you at least touch me before my attack lands on you. Now, again."

Yuki sighed. This would be quite a long warm up... Yuki once again felt the link, even though her eyes were open. She was surprised, for she wasn't even concentrating on it. Yuki stepped back as the lady dropkicked the ground where Yuki once was. Yuki threw a punch at her, but she vanished before her fist made contact with her skin.

"Keep it up, you're doing well."

Yuki nodded, feeling for the link once again. This time, Yuki could feel the link even better than the other times. Nodding to herself, Yuki spun around and kicked, the lady just barely missing the impact by ducking. The lady smirked.

"Almost, but don't count me out yet." The lady sent uppercut into Yuki's abdomen, second hit in a row to the same spot. Yuki felt herself rise from the ground as she coughed up a little blood. The metallic taste lined her mouth. Yuki landed on her back, her stomach hurting from two blows. Yuki rested on one elbow, watching the lady disappear again. Yuki's eyes widened as she saw the shadows wrap around the lady. _I guess that since I was standing, I was looking straight out into the darkness, but from down here in the light..._ Yuki jumped up from her place on the ground, ducking while the lady kicked the air in which Yuki's head just was. Yuki smiled and grabbed the lady's leg.

"Found you..." Yuki coughed once again, the taste a little stronger now. The lady smiled and lowered her leg.

"Good. Now, I'll heal you and we'll move on to the next step."

Yuki nodded as the lady bent down, her hand on Yuki's stomach. Shadows enveloped her hand and a dark purple light was emitted. Yuki slowly felt the pain subsiding and blinked. Would she be able to do that later on? Shrugging, Yuki got up as the lady finished. The lady's eyes turned glassy for a moment, and then she looked at Yuki.

"Someone is at your door. I shall return you to the real world for now. Until we meet again."

Yuki blinked and jumped up. "Wait a minute, so we did all of that for nothing?!"

The lady shook her head and turned towards the pedestal. "No, it was not in vain. Now you know how to locate ones who use your powers, like the people you are with. You will also be able to locate people other than your allies who use your powers. The only thing is that it will be a little more difficult in the real world. Now, I will send you back. For now, try to restrain yourself from using the Dark Palm."

Yuki closed her eyes, not wanting the light to blind her again.

--

Yuki opened her eyes and heard knocking on her door. She slowly got up, waiting to see if she felt any pain. Nope... none at all... Yuki nodded to herself and walked to the door. Opening it, she found Demyx standing before her. Yuki blinked, a bit confused.

"Hey... why are you here?"

Demyx seemed a bit worried, for he was checking around him to make sure no one was there. He grinned and turned to Yuki. "Hey, can I come in? Thanks, I advise you close the door and lock it... tightly."

Yuki gave Demyx a strange look as he entered her room and made his way to a chair in the far right corner. "Hey, I never said you could come in..." Yuki closed the door anyway without locking it. She looked at Demyx with curiosity as he looked around the room.

"And why are you here anyway? You never answered my question."

Demyx blinked innocently at Yuki, cocking his head to the side. "What ever do you mean? I can't come by my good friend's and chat for a bit?"

Yuki huffed and crossed her arms. "Come on, we just met about three hours ago. Now tell me, what's the catch?" Yuki walked over to her bed and sat on it cross-legged. Demyx scratched the side of his face and faced the other direction.

"Well... You said not to involve you in my next little ploy, so I didn't... and this time I had fun with Axel. Yeah, he arrived about... ten minutes ago? Yeah, that should be right... Anyway, now he wants to play target practice with me for some reason. Who'd have known..."

Yuki's eye was twitching, for now she knew that he had involved her, if not by hidden means. She groaned and fell backwards onto her bed. "Great... Thanks again for involving me in battles I don't wish to partake in..."

Demyx gave Yuki a wide grin and leaned back in his chair. "No problem. I'm guessing Axel should come down this hallway in about... oh, I don't know... ten seconds? We can only hope he doesn't try to ask you if I'm in here."

Yuki blinked, the ceiling actually catching her interest as she tried to ignore the fact that she may end up dead before the day ended if Demyx kept his antics up. She had to admit, though, it was rather fun hanging around with the active guy. Yuki's stomach sank when she heard a sharp knock at her door. Demyx froze in his seat and glanced at Yuki. Yuki blinked and called out with an unconfident voice.

"Y-yes...?"

"Open up..."

Yuki looked at Demyx, who shrugged and mouthed, 'I dunno'. Axel sounded peeved. Yuki looked around the room and silently walked up to the door. She pointed to under the bed and Demyx nodded. He hurriedly scrambled onto his stomach and inched his way into the small space under the bed.

"Uh, coming..." Yuki slowly opened the door and found Axel, who immediately looked past her into the room. He then looked down at Yuki with a raised eyebrow.

"Have you seen Demyx around? I have a bone to pick with that guy..."

Yuki blinked innocently and cocked her head to the side. "Demyx...? Who's that?"

Axel gave Yuki a flat look and twirled the chakram in his right hand. Funny thing that Yuki just noticed the flaming weapon... "Are you sure you haven't met him? He's a coward who doesn't know when to stay out of others people's business? Likes to get everyone in trouble or some sort of mess? Has blonde hair? Is hiding _under your bed?_"

Yuki felt her heart sink and could tell that her face was flushing, for Axel was smirking at her reaction. Yuki looked back at the bed and saw that a bit of Demyx's cloak was sticking out from under the bed.

"Uh... about that..."

Axel huffed and walked past Yuki to the bed, yanking the edge of the cloak that was sticking out. To Axel and Yuki's surprise, the cloak came out without a Demyx. Yuki blinked and smiled.

"Yeah, as I was saying. A guy with blonde hair came by about a couple minutes ago and left his cloak. Dunno why, but he up and ran. Well, I hope you have good luck finding him."

Axel glared at the cloak in his hand, gripping it tightly as he twirled his chakram some more. Axel stood up and dropped the cloak on Yuki's bed, making his way to the door.

"Sorry 'bout that. Well, if you see him, tell him that I'm on his trail..."

With that, Axel left Yuki in her room and closed her door softly. Yuki could hear Axel's footsteps as he ran down the hallway. Yuki sighed and looked back at the bed. "Demyx?"

No response came from under the bed. Yuki looked at the bed strangely and walked up to it. She then got onto the floor and looked under the bed. She saw the wall across from her, but no sign of Demyx. Yuki blinked. "I could have sworn he would still be under there... Eep!"

Yuki jumped slightly as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to her right and saw Demyx looking under the bed with her.

"Watcha looking for?"

Yuki could feel her heart thumping from the scare. "Don't do that! It's creepy."

Demyx looked at Yuki and grinned. "All the better to entice me to do it."

Yuki rolled her eyes and stood up while using the bed for support. "Where exactly did you go? I mean, even I didn't expect you to be gone from there."

Demyx gave Yuki a flat look and got up as well, grabbing his cloak from Yuki's bed. "Yeah, well, just because I can't fight well doesn't mean I can't think. Come on, give me some credit."

Demyx unzipped the cloak and put it on, disregarding the fact that Yuki rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, sure... Anyways, once again, you avoid the question."

Demyx blinked and plopped down onto Yuki's bed. "Well, I took off my cloak and used a shadow portal to go outside the room. When I heard Axel coming out, I used the portal to appear right behind you when you were about to look under the bed. Simple, really."

Yuki blinked and smiled, taking a spot right next to Demyx on the bed. "I guess you are pretty smart. Good for you. Well, you heard Axel. He's hunting you down."

Just as Yuki said this, her door was opened by none other than Axel. His eyes were closed however and he had one hand behind his head. "Sorry 'bout that, Yuki. Demyx is a pain, what can we sa-..."

Axel blinked as he saw Yuki and Demyx sitting on the bed. Yuki looked from Axel to Demyx and smiled nervously. "Uh... Axel, stay calm, and don't destroy the room..."

Axel simply looked at Demyx, and then he looked at Yuki. He repeatedly did this and suppressed a smirk. Yuki cocked her head to the side and gave Axel a strange look. "What's with you all of a sudden?"

Axel let his smirk show and crossed his arms. "Well, from where I stand, it looks like you and Demyx are pretty close... I mean, Demyx's cloak is un-zipped; you're both on a bed... pretty cozy if you ask me."

Yuki blinked and looked at Demyx. It took a minute for Yuki's brain to register Axel's words but felt her cheeks heat up and jumped off the bed. She looked at Axel with a nervous expression.

"NO! No, no, no. This is _not_ what it looks like, you pervert. I was simply sitting by him after he put his cloak back on after you left. I mean, how could you possibly think..."

Yuki stiffened as she felt arms wrap around her waist. Demyx rested his head on Yuki's shoulder and gave Axel a sly grin. "What? Mad that I was here first?"

Yuki growled and took Demyx's arms out from around her waist and backed away from the two men. "Stop encouraging his imagination! Now this sends a totally wrong message. Freaks..."

Demyx laughed as Axel scowled at him. "But it's so fun messing with his head... I bet he was jealous anyway, so no worries."

Axel raised an eyebrow at Demyx and crossed his arms. "Now tell me, oh smart one. How would I be able to be jealous with our conditions?"

Demyx blinked and rolled his eyes. "Come on, stop being such a party pooper. We can pretend..."

Axel sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he talked with Demyx. Yuki furrowed her eyebrow at what Axel said. "... Conditions?" Yuki remembered the conversation se ha with the heartless not too long ago. Axel heard what Yuki said and saw that she had a thoughtful face, if not serious at the same time. Axel sighed once again and crossed his arms. "Should we explain, Demyx?"

Demyx shrugged and took his former place on the bed. "Sure, it's not like it's a big secret or anything."

Axel sat on the bed as well and leaned on his forearms. "You see, the members of the organization are made up of a group of superior nobodies. We have a more developed thought system than the lesser nobodies that obey us. Since we're nobodies, we don't have emotions... No hearts. Do you know what it's like not feeling anything but pain from wounds?"

Yuki smirked slightly, muffling a laugh with her hand. Axel scowled at her with a serious expression. "Hey, this isn't funny... and even I can tell that."

Yuki started laughing now, pointing at the two on the bed from her spot at the door.

"Hah, I see what you saw now... Ah, Axel and Demyx... what a strange sight on a bed."

Axel narrowed his eyes and pointed at Yuki with a smile. "Hah! Now you see where the idea came from..."

Yuki wiped a tear from her eye and nodded. "Yeah, except you didn't have Demyx encouraging the idea. And, please, don't try to encourage this one, Demyx."

Demyx grinned and got up from the bed, stretching his arms out. "Don't worry. Axel can't be compared to you like that."

--

Fin! Yesh, humor is goodness. I hope you all like this chapter! I tried to get some fun back in here after having Yuki do a boring session with the lady. I mean, come on... It's better than having a whole chapter on a power lesson. Anywhose, thank you for reading and please R&R. Vote for the pairing you want!


	7. Too Hot to be Human

I do not own the lyrics for To Be, it's a song by Ayumi Hamasaki 3 Also note that I only put down the translation; the real song is in Japanese! Remember, so far it's two for Sora/RoxasxOC and one for AxelxOC. Remember to vote!

--

Yuki sighed and sat up from her bed. It was the next day, which meant that it was also the next training session with Luxord. Goody goody... Yuki jumped out of her bed and looked out of a window that revealed Kingdom Hearts. Yuki had to admit; the heart shaped moon did look rather pretty. She then walked to her door, opening it to find that Axel was walking in her direction. Yuki smiled and waved.

"Morning, Axel."

Axel nodded, walking past Yuki without saying anything. Yuki blinked and jogged over to match his pace. She walked in front of him, continuing down the hallway backwards as to not stop his pace. "What's eating you? You're all... emo-ish..."

Axel looked down at Yuki with a raised eyebrow and shrugged. "Just a little aggravated... I have another mission and its only recon... Tch, this is gonna be boring..."

Yuki tilted her head and smiled. "Oh, come on... it can't be that bad... But hey, at least you don't have to have someone kick your ass for about an hour and a half..."

Axel smiled slightly stopped. "Yeah, well, see you later. I have to go on my oh-so-fun mission now..."

Yuki nodded as Axel jumped backwards into a shadow portal with a grin, disappearing instantly. Yuk watched interestedly as the portal started to fade, the shadows disappearing into thin air. Yuki shrugged and continued down the hallway with a smile. "Show-off..."

--

Yuki had found the room that she had trained in wit Luxord the previous day, but found no Luxord. Instead, she found Xigbar shooting at more nobodies. She sighed and leaned against the wall as she watched. _He's always doing this target practice... No wonder he's so strong._ Yuki blinked as Xigbar once again disappeared from his spot in the corner of the room and appeared up in the booth. Yuki blinked as he used his gun like a sniper rifle. She smiled as he wore a happy expression when a rather large nobody fell, fading into darkness.

"Awesome..."

Xigbar glanced down at Yuki, who watched the nobodies intently as he shot them down. Grinning, Xigbar disappeared and reappeared in the center of the ring of four dragon-like nobodies. He took his guns and spun around, shooting in random directions. He then appeared outside the ring of nobodies and shot in lines, moving quickly to eliminate them all. As the last nobody disappeared, he glanced over at Yuki, who was smiling at his work. Xigbar let his weapons fade and made his way towards Yuki.

"When did you get here?"

Yuki shrugged and put her hands behind her back. "Around five minutes ago... How'd you get rid of those things so quickly?"

Xigbar smiled and tapped his temple. "After a lot of training, it's easy to overpower them."

Yuki nodded and glanced over to the spot where the nobodies once stood. "What exactly were they? I've seen so many different kinds of nobodies..."

Xigbar crossed his arms and looked upwards. "Those were Dragoons; they're high ranking nobodies. Of course, they aren't anywhere near as tough as the organization."

Yuki smiled and laughed slightly, thinking about the organization and what Axel had told her the previous night. "What exactly were you doing here so early? I mean, I know you were training but... how can someone so strong get any stronger from doing this every day?"

Xigbar grinned and put his hand in the pockets of his cloak. "Are you trying to suck up to me or something? Heh, well, it raises stamina for one thing. Each day I add a little more that I force myself to do. Why are you so curious?"

Yuki shrugged, blinking at Xigbar's expression. "I dunno, just admiring hard work I guess. Well, do you know when Luxord is coming?"

Xigbar turned and started to walk out of the room. "You're out of luck today, kid. Luxord had to go on a mission with Axel. Something about gathering data on some heartless in a different world... Well, so long, kiddo."

Yuki watched as the older nobody left her in the large room. Sighing, Yuki walked to the center of the room, her footsteps echoing throughout the large space. Yuki then started to hum a tune that popped into her head. She couldn't quite place it, but she knew that she had heard it... Where though...? Yuki shrugged it off and continued to sing, finding it better than getting lost in the hallways.

"Everyone passes through. I don't keep them in mind either. It can't be helped.  
You've been carrying that junk as if it's important..."

"That's a nice song..."

Yuki spun around to find, once again, Demyx standing before her with a smile. Yuki blinked and shrugged, crossing her arms. "Really? I guess... I don't really know what it is, but I remember it... strange, no?"

Demyx shook his head. "I think you're experiencing what we nobodies sometimes experience. Sometimes, we remember memories that our former selves used to have."

Yuki blinked and cocked her head to the side. "Really? That's strange..."

Demyx nodded and sat against the wall under the booth, closing his eyes and resting an arm on one knee. "Sing the rest of the song, it sounds nice."

Yuki blinked and shrugged, pacing in a circle as she tried to remember the rest of the lyrics.

"People saw you from a distance and thought you were strange. Even so you laughed and said to me "this is treasure."

While I'm gaining something big, I wonder if there's something I've lost. I don't understand. This place I've regained, I bet it's slightly different.

If you're there, I'm always laughing. If you're there, I'm always laughing. I'm crying. I'm living. If you're not there, there's nothing.

Was it myself? Was it the people? Or was it only a clock? The thing that seemed like it would break.

How much do the arms that continue to protect the junk hurt? What have they sacrificed? Even though you'll never be perfect, you shine in your imperfection.

The path you found isn't wide. The path you found isn't wide, it isn't narrow, and some how you alone have made it better for me.

Because you were there, I'm always laughing. Because you were there, I was always laughing. I was crying. I was living. If you're not there, there's nothing."

Yuki blinked and crossed her arms. "I think that's the whole song... Well, if it isn't, I doubt I'm going to remember any more."

Yuki looked over at Demyx, who for some reason had his Sitar out. Yuki blinked and walked over to Demyx. "Hmm? Why do you have that out?"

The musician looked up at Yuki and smiled through his bangs. "It's my turn now... C'mon, sit down."

Yuki nodded and sat down in front of Demyx and watched as he closed his eyes, strumming the instrument softly. Yuki's eyes widened as the notes were smooth and rich in tone, his fingers never missing a note. The thing that really got to her was the fact that Demyx was playing the song she had just sung. Of course, it sounded much better than her average, unrefined voice. Yuki smiled and closed her eyes as well, taking in the music that echoed around the room. Demyx opened his eyes and looked at Yuki while he played, a grin spreading across his face. Suddenly, Demyx strummed a chord loudly, making Yuki jump as he switched to a fast paced song in which the chord changes went quickly. Yuki laughed as Demyx finished with a high note, heavy song fading away into silence. Yuki smiled and clapped; Demyx bowing for his one-man audience. Demyx then let his weapon fade away and stood up. "Well, that was fun... what should we do now?"

Yuki shrugged. "I dunno... It's not like there's much to do around here."

Demyx nodded in agreement and grinned. "Wanna go pull some pranks?"

Yuki blinked, her face showing reluctance. "Are you planning on getting us killed that quickly?"

Demyx smiled and put his hands behind his head. "Oh, come on... I pull pranks all the time! I'm not dead yet!"

Yuki sighed and stood up as well. "The key word being 'yet'."

Demyx pouted and crossed his arms, standing between Yuki and the exit. "Aw, it's really fun! Especially this one time when I flooded the entire first floor... It was awesome because it took three days to get Axel to lower his guard around me. Hah, he's such a wimp when it comes to getting wet..."

Yuki blinked and crossed her arms. "Well, it would make sense. Fire and water... don't exactly mix well, ne?"

Demyx nodded. "Yeah- wait a second... you're avoiding the subject! Come on, let's pull pranks!"

Yuki was about to protest when Demyx shoved Yuki backwards into a shadow portal while jumping in straight after her.

--

Yuki found herself in what seemed to be someone's room. Yuki blinked and looked behind her at Demyx, who was grinning and looking around. "Alright, I'd guess we have about an hour to trap the place before Axel gets back..."

Yuki blinked and took a step back. "Whoa, won't he destroy us or something?!"

Demyx grinned and gave Yuki a thumbs up. "Don't worry, water can't be beaten by fire, right?"

Yuki blinked and shrugged as she watched Demyx walk over to Axel's desk. "And what do we have here...? It seems like Axel's been doing a bit of his own separate recon. Come look."

Yuki walked up to the desk and found what Demyx had been looking at. On Axel's desk were a few scattered papers that held different topics. Yuki's eyes widened as she saw the names Roxas, Yuki, and Sora on the papers. Yuki blinked and picked one up, turning towards Demyx.

"Who's Sora?"

Demyx blinked and turned his head, keeping himself from facing Yuki. "That's something that I'm not aloud to discuss. Now, where were we... Oh yeah! Heh, Axel's gonna be P.O'd!"

Yuki watched as Demyx backed up, his eyes scanning the ceiling above. He would sometimes nod to himself as he observed the room. He then turned towards Yuki with a smile.

"Hey, find something long that is barely noticeable against the carpet."

Yuki nodded and looked around the room. There was Axel's bed, a closet, a bookshelf, but nothing that she found suitable for Demyx's task. Yuki walked over to the closet and opened it, finding several black cloaks. She laughed to herself as she observed them.

"Just how skinny _is_ he? I mean, I bet I'm not even that skinny... is he a pole?"

Demyx blinked and walked over to the closet. Grinning, he pulled one off of a hanger. "Hey, try one on. We'll see if you're as skinny as him."

Yuki blinked and wore a nervous expression. "Dude, I can't just wear someone else's clothes! It's strange..."

Demyx rolled his eyes and handed the cloak to Yuki. "Oh come on, it's just a jacket. It's not like he doesn't wear other clothes under it."

Yuki sighed but started to put the jacket on none-the-less. "That's besides the point... Hey, what do you know, it fits... Except he's much taller..."

Yuki had put on the cloak, but the sleeves reached past her hands and the hem dragged across the floor. Demyx smiled and waved his finger at her. "No, we don't actually know that until you zip it up."

Yuki rolled her eyes and tried zipping the jacket. She was surprised when it actually went all the way up. Demyx grinned and poked her in the stomach. "Wadd'ya know, you actually are as skinny as that guy. Huh... well, maybe we could pull a different prank..."  
Yuki blinked and cocked her head to the side. "What are you mumbling about?"

Demyx smiled and started taking the hanger that the cloak had been on. "Hmm... come here for a sec."

Yuki blinked and walked over to Demyx, stiffening as Demyx shoved a hanger into the jacket so that the hanger was sticking out of the back. Demyx grinned mischievously as he looked at Yuki. "Good. Now, up you go!"

Yuki's eyes widened as Demyx started to pick her up. "Wha?! Demyx, put me down!"

Demyx flinched as Yuki hit him on the head. " Watch the hair! Oh, come on, I'll be in there with you. Don't worry; it'll be fine. I have it all figured out."

Demyx the placed the hanger in the jacket on the pole and smiled. "There! Now, when Axel opens the door, you yell at him, he'll be startled, and I use a shadow portal to bring us back to safety. Got it?"

Yuki gave Demyx a flat look as he grinned and got behind the row of jackets. Yuki looked to her side at Demyx and pointed at the door. "You forgot to shut the door, smart one."

Demyx rolled his eyes and leaned in front of Yuki to shut the door. Once the door was shut, the closet went pitch black. Blinking, Yuki looked around to see if she could find any source of light. "Demyx, do these closets usually have any lights?"

"I don't think so... nope. Why, afraid of the dark?"

"Demyx, how could the Heir to the Darkness be afraid of the dark?"

"Hey, it would be a cool oxymoron."

"You're the moron... Ugh, this feels funny."

"What?"

"The hanger... it makes it hurt a little, being suspended like this. It would be better if I could stand. That way, the hanger isn't the thing keeping me up here."

"Oh, I can fix that."

Yuki blinked and felt her face heat up when she felt arms wrap around her waist, Demyx's breath in her ear. Demyx was lifting her slightly to keep the hanger from pulling her off of the ground.

"U-uh, won't you get tired of holding me up like that?"

Demyx laughed, resting his head on her shoulder. "Nah, I've done worse things. Besides, you're about the same weight as my Sitar. How much do you weigh, 118?"

Yuki blinked and furrowed her eyebrows. "Y'know, that isn't exactly information I like to give out to random guys."

"Oh, but I'm not a random guy."

Yuki sighed and looked upwards into the pitch-blackness. "Whatever... Hey, how long do you think it will take until Axel comes back?"

"Hmm... I dunno... half an hour? And we don't even know if he'll open up the closet..."

"What?! That means we could be in here for more than an hour!"

Demyx sighed, his breath tickling Yuki's neck. "I don't mind; I mean, it's not like this is torture."

Yuki rolled her eyes even though she knew Demyx couldn't see. "Well, I'm glad you're fine. You're not the one suspended in mid air!"

Yuki felt Demyx shift slightly, getting a better grip around her waist. "Be happy I didn't just leave you in here alone. I could have left you to be roasted by Axel."

Yuki sighed, looking out into nothing. "So, what should we do to pass the time?"

Yuki heard nothing for a moment until Demyx piped up. "Did you knew that Xemnas' name is the anagram for Mansex?"

Yuki laughed, the whole idea of someone's name being ridiculed... it was priceless. "That's awful... when do you find the time to think these things up?"

"Times like this when I'm having fun."

Yuki thought for a minute, trying to add on to the list of funny names. "Hmm... Xigbar is Bigrax."

This time Demyx chuckled and once again shifted Yuki's weight. "Hah, didn't think of that one... Lessee... um... Axel's name can be rearranged to fit into laxative."

Yuki shook her head while smiling. "Well, he's always on the move."

Both of the bored teens laughed at their crude jokes. Yuki sighed once again and leaned her head on top of Demyx's. "I'm gonna use you as a headrest, feel honored."

Yuki felt Demyx's head move slightly as he talked. "Oh, yes, I bask in your glory."

Yuki froze for a moment when she heard the door to the room being opened. She didn't dare say anything but felt Demyx unwrap his arms, showing her that he knew. Yuki gulped and watched the door to the closet. For a while there was silence, but Yuki's heart pounded as she heard the door to the closet being opened. Axel's eyes were closed as the light filtered into the closet. When he opened his eyes, he didn't expect to see Yuki in one of his cloaks. Yuki blinked and felt a blush coming on, for Axel only had his pants on. Yuki yelled, as did Axel. Axel shut the door and Yuki felt Demyx bringing her through a shadow portal.

--

Yuki then found herself back in her room with Demyx, who was currently laughing hysterically.

"Hah, did you see his face?! That was sweet..."

Yuki shook her head to get a hold of herself and smiled. "Ah, yeah... hilarious... Let's just hope he doesn't come after us..." Yuki sighed inwardly and felt her blush returning. _Damn, no wonder these people are nobodies; they're too hot to be human._

--

Okedokes! The next installment of Remember Me! Okay, like I said before the story, that song belongs to Ayumi, although, that was just the English translation. Anywhose, please review and vote for who you want Yuki to be paired with! Keep in mind that I might pick if I make up my mind, but for now... you get to chose either Sora/RoxasxOC, DemyxOC, AxelxOC, etc. Heck, pick Xiggy for all I care! Thank you for reading my story.


	8. Show Offs and Girly Men

Hey everyone! Next chapter is up and running. The polls thus far:

AxelxOC: 1

Sora/RoxasxOC: 2

RikuxOC: 1

DemyxOC: 1

Well, bring in the votes in your reviews and I'll let you know the winner in a few chapters. On to the story!

--

Yuki had been wandering around the Castle for about half an hour after her little ruse with Demyx. Yuki was just glad that she hadn't run into Axel since she left the room. She always had a knack for running into people.

"Oof... Sorry, wasn't looking-," Yuki rubbed her nose gingerly, for she just ran into something, or someone, on her little walk down the hallway. She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly when she looked up to see who it was, "Oh... Uh, hey... Axel... Hah hah... Fancy meeting you here?"

Yuki grinned at the hot-tempered nobody as she tried to figure out a way to get away from him. Who knows if he was still mad about the whole closet thing... Axel raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Whatever... Have you seen Xaldin?"

Yuki blinked and shook her head. "I don't even know who Xaldin is..."

"Oh... he's some big guy who has long hair... sorta like dread locks. Seen him around?"

Yuki shook her head and smiled, glad that Axel wasn't talking about the prank. "Uh, nope. Can't say that I have. Why?"

Axel's face wore an exasperated expression as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Oh, Xemnas wants to see him about something."

Yuki shook her head and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I told Demyx that this place was too darn big... Anyway, I hope you find him! Well, gotta go, sayona- oof..."

Yuki shook her head, for Axel had sidestepped to stand in her way when she had tried to walk around him. Axel crossed his arms and grinned. "Oh, did we think that we were getting away that easily? We must be forgetful..."

Yuki blinked and grinned nervously at Axel. "Uh... what do you mean?"

Axel gave Yuki a flat look and shrugged. "Oh, I don't know... how about my closet?"

Yuki blinked and turned around, making way to sprint down the hallway. "Nope, not a clue, see you late- Ack! Axel, get offa me!"

Yuki cringed after Axel had tackled her to the ground. "You're not going anywhere. Now, where's Demyx?"

Yuki huffed and blew some stray strands of hair out of her face, seeing as Axel was restraining her from doing anything else. "I thought you were looking for that Xaldin guy?"

"Hah hah, you're hilarious. Now, spit it out."

Yuki let her forehead fall to the floor, the cool marble feeling nice against her skin. "I dunno, I abandoned him a while ago."

Yuki sighed inwardly. She was telling half of the truth. She had left him, but she also knew where he was at the moment. She just didn't want to receive punishment... Axel sighed and dragged Yuki up by the back of her shirt. "Come on, you're gonna help me find him then."

Yuki huffed and crossed her arms as Axel steered her down the hallway while keeping a firm grip on her shoulders. Yuki narrowed her eyes and huffed. "What am I, a dog? You may as well put me on a leash..."

Axel shrugged, turning to the left down a flight of stairs. "I dunno, maybe I should talk to Xemnas about that."

Yuki rolled her eyes. "Har har, my sides are splitting."

Axel smiled and made Yuki turn right down a seemingly endless hallway. "I'm glad you agree with me. Now, tell me where he is."

Yuki shrugged, thinking of multiple ways of escape, but coming up with no solution. "I told you, I abandoned him a while ago."

Axel sighed, stopping in the middle of the hallway. "Well then, I guess I have to force the information out of you..."

Axel let go of Yuki and summoned his chakrams. Yuki felt her stomach sink as Axel wore a mad grin. Yuki back up slightly and blinked when Axel disappeared. She then felt her stomach sink even deeper when her back hit something soft...

"Uh... isn't this unfair?"

Yuki felt her heart pound when Axel leaned down to talk in her ear. "Nope!"

Yuki jumped back, barely missing a flaming spike from his chakram. Axel grinned and twirled his weapons dangerously. "Now, lets see how well you dance..."

Yuki blinked as Axel charged at her, twirling around while slashing at her with the weapons. Yuki yelled slightly when a spike almost hit her arm. Yuki blinked slightly and felt her hands shaking as Axel grinned down at her. "Now, are you going to tell me where he is?"

Yuki shook her head and started running in the opposite direction only to fall to the ground once again. Yuki huffed and let her chin fall to the floor as she felt Axel's weight on top of her. "Dude, for being really skinny, you're awfully heavy..."

Both people blinked when a shadow portal appeared in front of them, Luxord stepping out. Luxord raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms; an amused expression sprawled across his face. "Well, aren't we a little aggressive, Axel? I can understand the possessiveness, but don't you think this is going a bit too far?"

Axel scowled and Yuki grinned madly. Axel got off of Yuki, who jumped up and hugged Luxord around the neck. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! That guys a madman I say, a madman!"

With her last words, Yuki was pointing at Axel, who was wearing a bored expression. Axel glared at Yuki, who in turn stuck her tongue out at Axel. Axel grinned and pointed at her. "Next time, there won't be anyone to come to the rescue. I'll get you and Demyx..."

Yuki rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Oh, what ever will I do?"

Luxord blinked and turned around while summoning a shadow portal. "Come, Yuki. It's time for our training."

Yuki blinked and looked back at Axel, and then at Luxord. Yuki then sighed and let her shoulders sag. "Ugh, I don't know if I'd rather be beaten to a pulp while being burned or getting frustrated over my inability to summon a heartless. One little heartless!"

Yuki followed Luxord regardless, silently musing over her upcoming training session.

--

Yuki blinked as she found herself in a different place. It surprised her, for Luxord had brought her to a landing on a flight of stairs that was outdoors. Luxord turned and raised an eyebrow, his gaze going past Yuki. "Ah, did you want to join us as well, Axel?"

Yuki felt her stomach sink and looked back at Axel, who grinned madly at Yuki. "Yeah, it seems like a good idea to help out until you're through with her."

Yuki glared at Axel with a darkened expression. _Luxord... that traitor..._

Luxord shrugged. "Do as you wish..." Luxord then turned towards Yuki, holding out the bracelet he had taken from her the previous day. "Now, in our warm up, you have a chance of redeeming yourself and winning back your trinket. If I win though..." Luxord pointed at Yuki, who blinked with a vacant expression. "... You'll have to do my bidding. Do we have a deal?"

Yuki blinked when she heard Axel laughing behind her. Yuki turned around and gave Axel a flat look. "What's your problem?"

Axel smiled at Yuki and crossed his arms. "You don't have a chance. We don't call Luxord 'The Gambler of Fate' for nothing, you know. He's the master of games."

Yuki blinked and looked back at Luxord, who was twirling the string that held the charm. "Say what? You've been duping me this whole time!"

Luxord smiled and shrugged. "There's always a chance that you'll win. It's just gambling with luck; you need to use your brain to get through most of my tasks. Trust me, if I were out to make you fail, you would have lost everything in our last session. I'm just picking things that could be an incentive for you to work harder."

Yuki shrugged and put her hands in her pockets. "Well, doing your bidding doesn't exactly sound all that painful. It's not like you're on a vengeance streak like Axel."

Axel coughed, but Yuki ignored his interruption. Luxord raised his eyebrow and put his hands behind his back. "Well, that's an interesting proposition..."

Yuki blinked and felt something bad coming on. "Uh... what is?"

Luxord paced around the landing as he explained his thoughts. "Well, you just said that I wasn't all that... persuasive in working matters. Then you said that Axel was more frightening to you... Let's change my wager. If I win, you'll have to deal with Axel's decisions. I can force you to do it too, with my power."

Yuki felt her eye twitch and crossed her arms. "Well then, I don't agree to your terms."

Luxord raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Fine then, I get to keep your trinket forever."

Yuki looked at the small charm in Luxord's hand. Yuki sighed irritably and glanced over at Axel. Axel just stared back at Yuki with a blank expression. She then crossed her arms and glared at Luxord. "Fine, I agree."

Luxord smiled and pocketed the bracelet. "Good. Now, this exercise shall be easier than the last one. You will have to figure out where I am hiding."

Yuki raised an eyebrow at the game master. "Come again?"

Luxord summoned three card nobodies and gestured towards them. "It's just like how I was able to turn you into a die. This time, I'll enter these cards myself. However, I am able to move around from card to card. Watch closely."

Luxord jumped up into one of the cards. The cards then spun around as Luxord jumped to the next card. Luxord jumped out of the second card and landed in front of Yuki. "So, in this game, there will be twelve cards. I will be hiding somewhere. You have to figure out where I am when five minutes is over. Ready?"

Yuki nodded, she was quite confident in her sight. She would probably be able to see which card he jumped to easily. Luxord nodded and summoned nine more cards before jumping into one. Yuki felt her eyes widen as they spun around quickly, coming together in stacks and spinning around again. Yuki crossed arms and saw a blur of black and blonde before the cards started to spin around her. "That's so unfair..."

Yuki blinked and tried to look at all the cards, but they were moving to quickly. She saw the blur of black and blonde again before the cards came together in a stack. The cards then spread out in a row in front of her, all of them facing away so that only the backs were seen. Yuki took it as a signal that five minutes were up.

Yuki looked at all he cards with a worried expression. _This is impossible! How am I supposed to know what card he's hiding in? This is such a rip off... unless..._ Yuki looked down at her hands. _He never said that someone else couldn't look at the cards..._ Yuki smiled and closed her eyes; the small heartless appearing on the other side of the cards. The heartless disappeared after a few moments. _/Not... there._/ Yuki blinked and furrowed her eyebrows, huffing at the childish antic. "Now that's not fair, you aren't even inside the cards in front of me. Liar..."

The cards in front of her disappeared leaving no trace of Luxord. Yuki heard clapping behind her and spun around to see Luxord standing by Axel. "Well done. You've thought outside the box. Now, I do believe this belongs to you."

Luxord tossed the bracelet to Yuki, who smiled while tying the string around her wrist. Luxord then started to make his way towards Yuki with Axel behind him. "Now, seeing as you mastered the technique that we were going over last time, we'll continue onto our next lesson.

Yuki felt her eyes widen when her realization dawned upon her. _I summoned the weakest heartless... I did it!_

Luxord gestured to Axel as he continued to speak. Now, today we are going to go over using shadow portals. Axel has told me that you have a knack for getting lost...

Yuki blinked and grinned sheepishly. "Well, it's not like I can help it... this place is way too big."

Luxord brushed off Yuki's response and stepped a few paces away from Axel. "Now, Axel is going to help us in this exercise. Now that you seem to know how to limit your energy to an extent, you will learn to moderate your energy depending on how far away you wish to go from your starting point. For example, if Axel wanted to go from his spot to you, he'd use a minimal amount."

Axel jumped backwards into a portal and appeared inches away from Yuki. Yuki restrained a blush at the close proximity and took a few paces back. Luxord then continued with his lecture. "And if Axel want to go from his spot by you to the bottom of this flight of stairs, he'd use a good amount of energy to get there."

Axel grinned and walked into a shadow portal that appeared a few inches away from Yuki's face. Yuki blinked when Axel wasn't there, assuming that Axel had appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Luxord nodded and crossed his arms in front of him.

"Now, lets see you try to summon a portal first."

Yuki blinked and held out her hand, the dark energy concentrating until a small oval started to form. Luxord nodded at her attempt. "Good, but it's not enough energy. This takes a little more energy than summoning heartless."

Yuki nodded and added more energy, making the oval a little taller than herself.

"Good. Now, when you go through the portal, concentrate on appearing next to me. This should be easier than going farther away like Axel did."

Yuki nodded and stepped through the portal to find that it was still the same dark place she had first experienced when Axel brought her to this place against her will. Yuki ran, unsure of what the place really was. All the way there, Yuki concentrated on Luxord. When she got to the end, She found that she almost ran into his front. Yuki let the portal close behind her as Luxord nodded. "Good. Now, after a while, you'll be able to use a portal without having to spend time in the dark realm. It will merely seem as if you stepped from one spot to another. I believe you have experienced this when traveling through other portals, correct?"

Yuki nodded, remembering the portal that Demyx always shoved her through, as well as the portal Luxord had used to bring her to the landing. Luxord crossed his arms and looked at the stairway. "Now, this time I want you to try to use a portal to get to where Axel is. We'll be here in case you make any mistakes."

Yuki blinked and felt her stomach tighten. "Mistakes...?"

Luxord rolled his eyes and waved her off. "Come now, we don't have all day."

Yuki nodded and put forth more energy into her next portal. Yuki took a breath and concentrated on Axel. This time, it seemed like the path was shorter than before. Yuki ran and jumped out of the other end. When she appeared, Yuki felt her heart sink as she lost her footing. Yuki had landed on the very edge of the stairwell, and she was about to fall off the side. Yuki yelped as she started to fall back, her footing betraying her as she felt gravity pulling her off the edge. Yuki felt relief wash over her as a hand grabbed her arm, yanking her off the edge. She sighed as someone caught her in his or her arms.

"Whoa, trying to get yourself killed that quickly? Geez, I could have done that for you..."

Yuki looked up to see Axel smirking down at her. Yuki blushed slightly and got out of Axel's grasp. "Oh yes, you're so funny... So what if I'm concentration impaired?"

Axel rolled his eyes as Luxord appeared beside him in a shadow portal. "Well, it seems you have a bit of work to do... So for the rest of our session, we're going to play a game of tag."

Yuki blinked and shook her head. "Excuse me? Isn't tag a bit... kid-ish?"

Luxord smiled and waved his finger at her. "Ah, but it isn't. You see, in this game, you are going to be following Axel and I using shadow portals. Of course, we aren't going to practice out here. We're going back to our previous room to do this. Come."

Axel and Luxord disappeared into their own separate portals, showing Yuki that she had to use a shadow portal by herself to get there. Yuki sighed and summoned a portal. "Let's hope I don't get myself killed...

Yuki took a breath before summoning a portal, concentrating on going to the room she was used to practicing in. Yuki blinked for the path seemed even shorter than before. Smiling to herself, Yuki stepped out of the other side and landed in front of Luxord and Axel. Luxord smiled and held his chin thoughtfully. "Good. Now, are you ready?"

Yuki nodded. "Yep... I think so."

Luxord nodded. "All you have to do is try to catch one of us. Now, let us start."

Both Axel and Luxord jumped backwards into shadow portals. Yuki sighed and jumped into one of her own. "I swear you're all a bunch of show offs..."

Yuki landed in front of Axel and Luxord, who immediately reacted and once again jumped through their portals. Yuki followed suit, hoping to tackle them the next time around. This time, Yuki landed closest to Luxord by the wall under the booth. Yuki attempted to lunge at Luxord, but he smirked and disappeared through a portal. Yuki crashed to the ground and huffed, watching as the two men appeared on the opposite side of the rather large room. Yuki got up and was about to use a shadow portal but stopped, deciding to see where they went first. They reappeared in the center of the room, looking at where they previously stood. Yuki grinned; they were expecting her to land there. Yuki disappeared through a shadow portal and jumped out, tackling whoever was first to the ground. Yuki grinned madly and looked down at whom she had tackled. Yuki blinked, for all that was left was a black jacket, but no person. Yuki huffed and looked up to see Luxord standing there with a smile, looking rather different with a black t-shirt replacing his jacket.

"Your getting better, but you shouldn't dilly dally." Luxord disappeared in a portal and appeared beside Axel in the far corner of the room. Yuki growled and disappeared in her own portal, thinking about both people. To her surprise, she landed at the same time as the person in front of her. Yuki grinned madly and lunged at Axel, whose back was turned so he was facing the opposite direction. Yuki laughed inwardly as they both of them crashed to the ground. Axel looked up at Yuki with a smirk. "You know, for someone so skinny, you're awfully heavy."

Yuki gave Axel a flat look when she realized that her face wasn't too far from his. Yuki scrambled to her feet and looked for Luxord, hoping that her face wasn't too red. To her surprise, Luxord wasn't there. Yuki turned around to Axel, who was currently getting off the ground. "Where's Luxord?"

Axel shrugged. "Dunno, we agreed to split up after that last attempt. Besides, can't you just find him with a shadow portal now?"

Yuki shrugged. "I guess... Hey, where are we anyway?"

Axel pointed to a door behind her. "We're right outside of the training room... you tackled me out of the room."

Yuki blinked. "Oh... well, that was... interesting."

Yuki looked to Axel's side as Luxord appeared. Luxord clapped twice before putting his hands behind his back. Yuki noticed that he had now put his jacket back on.

"Good job. Now, since you've seemed to grasp our lesson for today, you're free to go. Oh, that's right... Axel, didn't you say something about when I was through with her?"

Axel gave the gambler a questioning look before facing Yuki with a mad grin. "Yes, I believe I did..."

Yuki sent Luxord a glare as he smiled and disappeared through a shadow portal. "Traitor..."

Yuki then 'eeped' as Axel cracked his knuckles. "Now, where's Demyx?"

Yuki blinked and backed up as Axel approached. "Uh... he's... look! Gullibleiswrittenontheceiling!"

Axel blinked and looked up, where Yuki had been pointing. Yuki grinned when Axel fell for it and jumped backwards into a shadow portal. "Oh yes... I'm getting good at this."

Yuki grinned as she watched Axel disappear from view. When she blinked, she found herself in a white bedroom. "Alas, the white never ends..."

Yuki turned around to see Demyx lying down on the bed with his eyes closed. Yuki blinked and crossed her arms. "Hey, wake up, Demyx."

Demyx didn't respond. Yuki gave Demyx a flat look and walked up to the side of the bed. "Hey, you might want to get up. Axel is looking for us at the moment. I doubt he's too happy about earlier."

Demyx cracked open one eye and looked at Yuki. He shrugged and closed his eyes once again with a smile. "Hah, Laxative probably won't even guess to check my room. He always thinks that I'm on the run... and besides, didn't we have this little discussion about fire and water before? Water beats fire, no?"

Yuki rolled her eyes and sat on the floor by the bed, her head leaning against the mattress. "It depends... But in most cases, yes. I mean, can't fire turn water into steam? That would get rid of water..."

Demyx shrugged and rolled onto his side so that he could look down at Yuki. "Not unless the water puts the fire out first."

Yuki thought for a moment before closing her eyes and crossing her arms. "True... Whatever. So, what do we do now that we're fugitives?"

Demyx closed his eyes and rolled back onto his back, his hands behind his head. "Dunno... it's really boring in here."

Yuki nodded and sighed. "Is this what you guys do every day? I mean, just sit around waiting for missions?"

Demyx opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. "Yeah... basically. The organization isn't exactly a fun filled center. I mean, look at who's in the orgy. Well, besides me anyway."

Yuki grinned. "Heh, well aren't you special..."

Demyx gave Yuki a flat look and hit her lightly in the head. "Of course. No one can replace the great Melodious Nocturne."

Yuki blinked and looked up at Demyx. "Hey, what are the rest of the organization's code names or whatever...? I know Luxord is the Gambler of fate, and you just told me that you're the Melodious Nocturne... and why is it called Organization thirteen?"

Demyx blinked and sat up, crossing his legs and facing Yuki. "Well, we're called Organization Thirteen because we were made up of thirteen people. Numero Uno is Xemnas, or the Superior. Number two is Xigbar, or the Free Shooter."

Yuki nodded. "Well, that makes sense..."

Demyx rolled his eyes. "Lemme finish... Number three is Xaldin, the whirlwind lancer. Four was Vexen, but he's dead. He was the Chilly Academic. He was a crazy old man who had control over ice... he loved experimenting too. Number five was Lexaeus, the Silent Hero. Well, the hero didn't last very long... Zexion, or Zexy as I like to call him, was number six; he was also KIA. We called him the Cloaked Schemer. Basically, he was really intelligent... Number seven is Saix, the Lunar Diviner. Axel's Number eight, also called the Dancing Flames. Heh, girly, isn't it?"

Yuki laughed a little. "Yeah, hah... he does sort of dance when he fights. I mean... the whole twirling thing."

Demyx nodded and grinned. "I'm number nine. As you know, I'm the Melodious Nocturne. My whole musician thing earned me my name. Number ten is Luxord, and you know he's the Gambler of Fate. God, he always wins... it's annoying. Anyway, number eleven was Marluxia, or the Graceful Assassin, but he died too. Hah, he had flower petals and pink hair. I swear most of the older guys are girly... okay, number twelve was Larxene, the Savage Nymph. She was the only woman, and the saying 'Hell hath no fury like a woman' is undoubtedly correct. God, she was mean... She was another one who was killed."

Yuki blinked and tilted her head. "And who's number thirteen?"

Demyx blinked and smiled. "Oh that's... um... not important. Now, what else is there to talk about...?"

Yuki furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms. "Why can't I know who number thirteen is?"

Demyx looked over at Yuki, noticing her irritated look. Demyx sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Because Xemnas ordered it as classified information that you weren't allowed to know."

"Number thirteen was Roxas... The Key of Destiny."

Yuki's eyes widened at the voice that came from behind her. "Roxas...?"

Demyx also wore a surprised expression when he saw Axel standing before him. "Axel! You shouldn't have said anything... What if Xemnas finds out?"

Axel looked over at Demyx and shrugged. "Then he finds out... Anyway, we have some business to take care of, don't we?"

Axel was grinning at the two people in front of him. Yuki blinked and turned to Demyx. Demyx was grinning and summoned his Sitar. He suddenly started to strum a few chords and jumped to his feet on the other side of the bed. "Dance, water, Dance!"

Yuki watched in surprise as a bunch of water appeared in thin air and shoot towards Axel. Axel's eyes widened as he attempted to duck, but got wet in the process. Demyx grinned and yanked Yuki off of the ground. "Come on! You're so slow..."

Yuki was about to follow Demyx out of the room when she felt someone tackle her as she was about to jump over the bed.

"You're not going anywhere..."

Yuki gulped and looked over her shoulder to see Axel pinning her against the bed. "Uh, hi, Axel! When did you get here...?"

Axel grinned and grabbed both of her arms. "We're going to be playing treasure hunt..."

Axel then started to drag Yuki out of the room and after a water happy Demyx.

--

Axel was dragging Yuki down a stairway as he attempted to catch Demyx. Demyx had been shooting water At Axel, who had tried to use Yuki as a shield. We can only say that she wasn't exactly happy at the moment. Yuki sighed and grumbled inwardly at the never-ending flight of stairs. She blinked and held in a laugh when she saw Demyx trip and fall down the last step. I mean, how Ironic is it that you practically fly down the stairs only to fall over at the last one? Well, I think it's funny... She then started to feel a link that was similar to what she had experience with the lady. She shrugged it off and returned her attention to Demyx.

Axel grinned and stepped on Demyx's jacket, preventing any chance of escape. He then held Yuki in front of him so he could look at both of them.

"Now, how many times must I say to _stop involving me in your little ploys?!_" Yuki blinked and shook her head, pointing at Demyx. "He's the one who dragged me into it! I had nothing to do with it!"

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Oh? But aren't you the one who was in my closet?"

Yuki wore a worried expression and rubbed the back of her head. "Hey, it's not like I like to be suspended by a hanger! It's all Demyx's fault!"

Demyx looked up at Yuki with a mock hurt expression. "Yuki! How could you betray me like that?! I thought what we had was special..."

Yuki dramatically put the back of her hand to her forehead and turned away from Demyx, ignoring what he said. Both teens started to snicker when Axel started to get angry.

"Will you two stop that?! Demyx, you're being such a bad influence on Yuki."

Demyx grinned lazily and shrugged. "So, you want me to have act like I have a stick up my a-..."

"Demyx! Don't even start with me... Now, this is your last warning... Stop involving me!"

Axel let go of both of Yuki and Demyx, allowing them to leave. Yuki grinned and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Ah, you had me going... I though you would have gone fire happy..."

Axel raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Oh, I can always do it if you want me too..."

Yuki shook her head and was about to respond when a shadow portal appeared beside Axel. Out of it came a man with long blue hair and an x like scar on his forehead.

"Yuki, Xemnas requests your audience immediately."

Yuki blinked and looked at both Demyx and Axel before nodding. The man nodded back and led her through a shadow portal. _Looks like that link was important after all..._

--

Whoa, that was more than I usually write... I felt like giving everyone a nice, looong chapter... Anywhose, I hope you all liked this chapter! It was actually pretty fun to write... Who do you think caused the link? Hmm... Oh, don't forget to vote for the pairing you want when you review. As said above, I will let you know who wins in a few chapters... Or I might just pick who I want her to be with XD. Thanks for reading!


	9. Recruiting

Yo! I hope everyone's enjoying the last bit of winter vacation... I know I'm cherishing the days where I get to sleep in. Nyaow... Anywhose, here is the polls:

Sora/RoxasxOC: 3

AxelxOC: 1

RikuxOC: 1

DemyxOC: 4

So... Demyx is in the lead... Well, cast in your votes, for soon I shall announce the winner. Well, enough babbling, on to the story. Oh, I definitely do not own anything but Yuki and the plot.

--

After stepping out of the portal, Yuki found that the blue haired man had brought her to Xemnas' office. Xemnas was, once again, facing the other direction. She tensed when she heard Xemnas start to speak.

"Did you feel the connection?"

Yuki was about to nod when she remembered that Xemnas couldn't see her. "Y-yes... Is it someone we should consider?"

Xemnas turned around; his stern gaze landing on Yuki. "Yes... we have had problems with this person on occasion, so I want you to go and spy on him. Currently, this boy is in a world called Hollow Bastion. I will be sending another person to watch your movements in case you are in need of help. Saix."

Saix stiffened slightly, his eyes never leaving Xemnas. "Inform him that he may leave when he wishes to; Yuki will be there momentarily."

Saix nodded and walked out of the room. Yuki silently regarded the fact that this was the man Demyx wanted to annoy. She was glad she refused...

"Yuki."

Yuki blinked before giving her full attention to Xemnas. "Y-yes, sir?"

"You are to pretend to be a civilian when you arrive in Hollow Bastion. If the boy starts to talk to you, try to remain discreet. Am I clear?"

Yuki nodded as Xemnas handed her a photograph of the boy. "This is the boy you are to keep an eye on... I will not allow for any mishaps or mistakes. Now, leave my office at once."

Yuki nodded and turned around, not wanting to waste any time getting out of Xemnas' presence. Once Yuki heard the door click behind her, she sighed and took a better look at the photograph. The boy was rather... old, compared to what she expected. He had tan skin and yellow eyes which contrasted greatly with his white hair-...

"Wait a minute... isn't this Xemnas?!"

Yuki blinked and looked at the picture even closer. "This is definitely him... Maybe... Ugh, I'm confused..."

Yuki shook her head in annoyance before using quite a bit of energy to summon a portal. "Another world, eh? Sweet..."

Yuki then jumped into the portal, not knowing what she was to expect.

--

Yuki found that she had landed in a rather... old town. The walls were all made of cement brick and the streets were lined with shops and apartments. Blinking, Yuki started to walk down the street with her hands in her pockets. "Hmm, this place isn't all that exciting. When he says another world, I expect something dramatic..."

"Well, that's Xemnas for you. Up tight old man who doesn't give a darn about other's well being."

Yuki jumped and turned around to see who was behind her. She sighed when she found Demyx leaning against a brick wall. "Give me a heart attack, why don't you? Wait... Aren't you supposed to be in hiding or something?"

Demyx shrugged and crossed his arms as he got off the wall. "I'll get too bored if I have no one to talk to..."

Yuki rolled her eyes as Demyx whined, starting to wonder why the organization would send Demyx as a guard. Shrugging the matter off, Yuki turned and started walking down the street. "So, what do we do now? I mean, we don't even know where this guy is..."

Demyx shrugged, watching the shops as they passed them. "Who knows... Oh, what's this place?"

Demyx immediately went up to shop when he heard music coming out of it. Yuki sighed and rubbed her forehead, also wandering up to the shop to see what was inside. Yuki smiled as she saw rows of CD's and other items lining the walls in shelves. Yuki grabbed Demyx's arm and led him inside. "It's a music store. Come on, you'll probably like this place."

Demyx smiled happily as they entered the building; the different gadgets peaking his interest. Yuki laughed to herself as Demyx walked off to wander deeper into the isles. Rolling her eyes, Yuki made her way to a row of CD's under the discount isle. She blinked when she saw a machine that was previewing an album. Yuki took the headphones that were connected to the machine and closed her eyes while listening carefully to the song. It was rather pretty song, with the melody rather easy to get stuck into her head. After hearing a few lines, she was able to know the gist of the melody. Yuki took off the headphones to see what the album was called.

"It says it's from Be Not Nobody... Vanessa Carlton. Hmm..." Yuki glanced at the stack of CD's before her, finding Vanessa Carlton's Be Not Nobody not far from the machine. Grinning, she was happy to see that there were quite a few CD cases there. Yuki nodded to herself and stole a glance around the room, seeing if she could find Demyx. Sure enough, Demyx was browsing by some rock music. Yuki laughed to herself and made her way outside.

"I won't be long..."

Yuki stepped outside of the shop and sighed as a cool breeze went by. Looking around her, Yuki thought of how she could obtain munny when she saw a group of young people starting to walk down the street in her direction. Smiling to herself, she took a spot on the side of the building, waiting for the people to pass. _Hey, if I'm darkness, then I may as well do bad deeds, right?_ Yuki grinned and pretended to start walking past the group, quickly using her craftiness to grab a kid's wallet from his back pocket without him noticing. Yuki grinned to herself madly when the group turned a corner, leaving her with the wallet. Humming to herself, Yuki searched the wallet to find quite a bit of munny. Grabbing all of it and stuffing it into her pockets, Yuki took care to see to the fact that the wallet was disposed of. She then proceeded to reenter the store, her day seeming a bit brighter.

Yuki blinked when she saw Demyx towards the front of the store looking at MP3 players. Demyx caught Yuki in his sights and grinned, pointing to the small box.

"This thing is supposed to remember music for you; isn't it neat?"

Yuki grinned and laughed. She couldn't help it when she saw Demyx acting like a little kid in a candy store. ""Yeah, it's dandy."

Yuki walked over to Demyx and looked at the price of the item. "One thousand munny for that? Geez..." Yuki then took out the munny she had stolen and counted it, finding that she had more than she expected at two thousand five hundred munny. "Man, that kid must be a hard spender or something..."

Yuki grabbed the box from Demyx and read a label on the shelf it was on with a smile. "Hey, when you buy this, you get one CD free... cool."

Demyx grinned and proceeded to drag Yuki over to the rock music. "Yeah! I wanna get this one... Ah, here it is." Demyx grinned at Yuki as he held an album called Affirmation by a group called Savage Garden. Yuki glanced at the CD with a little disappointment before glancing over a the rack where the CD she liked was. Sighing, Yuki nodded her head, signaling to Demyx that he could get the CD. Demyx grinned happily while grabbing the MP3 player and the album while heading over to the cash register. Yuki shook her head and went over to the discount rack. Picking up the CD, she momentarily pondered buying it with the other things, but decided against it and put it back.

"Yuki, hurry up!"

Yuki blinked and looked back at Demyx, who was waving at her anxiously. Yuki rolled her eyes and made her way to the register.

--

Yuki had dragged Demyx out of the store after he had used another machine to load the songs into the MP3 player. She looked around the street as Demyx was oblivious to the world, his head filled with music.

"Hey, Demyx. I think you should get out of sight... We don't know when that boy will appear."

Yuki started walking again, hearing Demyx behind her. Sighing, Yuki turned around and pulled one of the headphones off of his ear. "Demyx, you should get out of view now. Got it?"

Demyx rolled his eyes and took the headphone back from Yuki. "Yeah, I know..."

Demyx then disappeared through a shadow portal. Yuki sighed irritably and shoved her hands in her pockets. "That guy's going to get us in trouble..."

Yuki then proceeded to walk down the street with the relief of knowing that it was basically empty. Every once in a while, Yuki would feel as if the person was near, but it always vanished after a few seconds. Sighing, Yuki sat down at a table with an umbrella above it. She was pointlessly wandering when it was obvious that she wouldn't be able to find the boy. Yuki ran a hand through her hair and watched people walk by. She laughed inwardly as a girl not much older than herself argued with a man with brown hair. It was rather amusing, for the girl had pitiful comebacks. Ah well, its entertainment. Yuki then felt the link come back even stronger, which raised her enthusiasm. Yuki ran towards an alley where she felt the link coming from and stopped a little ways away as to not alert the person she was there. Yuki felt her eyes widen as the person walked out of the alley and proceeded past her down the street.

Blinking, Yuki turned and watched the boy proceed into the crowds. "That had to be... Xemnas?"

Shaking her head, Yuki continued after the boy, making sure to keep her distance as she followed. Yuki began to grow puzzled as the boy started walking towards a wrecked part of the town that had been long since abandoned. She none-the-less gave an even greater distance in the pace she followed. Yuki then felt her eyes widen as the boy disappeared from view. Puzzled, Yuki ran up to where the boy once stood when she suddenly felt something sharp at the back of her neck.

"Why are you following me?"

Yuki slowly turned around and took in the boy's appearance. He definitely looked like Xemnas, but something seemed out of place. "Shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking questions?"

"Not to an enemy..."

Yuki raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "What are you talking about?"

The boy narrowed his eyes and pushed the blade closer towards Yuki. Yuki started to feel fear when she felt a familiar feeling around her. Where was it coming from... the boy? Above? Yuki's eyes widened slightly when the feeling was even stronger... The blade. Yuki closed her eyes when a blinding pain took over her head. It was horrible, not unlike lightning. The pain was quick but sharp, and would not stop pestering her. Yuki grunted and grabbed her head, trying to gather darkness to suppress the pain. Eventually, the pain receded and Yuki opened her eyes to look at the blade. This boy was no mere enemy... He was a Keyblade master. Yuki could feel herself start to sweat as her heart raced.

"You... why do you have darkness in your heart?"

The boy seemed taken aback by Yuki's words, for his sword faltered momentarily. "What did you say?"

Yuki looked back up at the boy's face and narrowed her eyebrows. "The Keyblade master isn't supposed to have his heart shrouded in darkness. So why...? Oh, I see..."

Yuki started to walk up to the boy, never forgetting the blade that was being pointed at her. "You are using a facade... this darkness... are you using it for power? We can only wonder, what is behind the facade?"

The boy watched as Yuki put her hand on his forehead. Closing her eyes, Yuki could feel the darkness in the boy's heart parting for her so that she could see the real form of the boy. Opening her eyes, Yuki raised an eyebrow at him.

"Come now, why would someone with such a pretty image want to be in a form like that? This current form is not meant for some young man to have. It is meant for someone of power..."

Yuki froze when the boy put the blade centimeters away from her neck. One move and...

"How do you know that I can wield a Keyblade?"

Yuki rolled her eyes and looked down at the blade that threatened her existence. "Well, I thought the blade was obvious..."

The boy glowered at Yuki; his blade gently pressing the skin on her neck. "Tell me who you are."

Yuki blinked and looked up at the boy before backing up a step. "All you need to know is that so long as the light has the Keyblade wielder, the Heir to the Darkness will always protect the shadows..."

"Stop playing around with words and answer me."

"... Yuki. And may I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

The boy slightly lowered his blade but never took his eyes off of Yuki. "... Riku. What do you mean by Heir to the Darkness?"

Yuki blinked and shrugged, putting her hands in her pockets as she began to circle Riku. "Hmm, what do I mean? I mean, I don't exactly know myself but... the Heir to the Darkness is the shadow's Keyblade wielder. Get that much?"

Riku lowered his head slightly and gripped his Keyblade tightly. "The darkness' Keyblade wielder?"

Yuki nodded and stopped circling Riku. "Yep. And it's said that the Heir to the Darkness has the ability to return a heart to darkness... and being a Keyblade wielder, you should know what that would mean."

Riku's eyes widened as Yuki looked off to the side uninterestedly. "He could force someone to become a heartless?"

Yuki looked at Riku lazily with a grin. "Now, aren't we a smart one? Wait a minute... people are so sexist..."

Riku raised an eyebrow at Yuki's last comment but brushed it off. "And who is the Heir to the Darkness?"

Yuki blinked and smiled while tilting her head to the side. "Who knows... Are they close? Are they far? Who is this Heir indeed..."

Riku pointed his sword back at Yuki while he slowly approached her. "Tell me!"

Yuki rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "I thought it would be obvious who it is... but instead of telling you, I'll let you figure it out for yourself. Now, it's my turn for a question. What are you doing here? Doesn't the Keyblade wielder have to protect the different worlds instead of dilly dally with a girl?"

Riku gripped the hilt of the Keyblade as Yuki flinched mentally by a sudden sharp pain. Yeah, the Keyblade was really making her scared. _I think the lightning-like images are going to cause a phobia soon..._

"It doesn't concern a stranger. Why would you want to know what I was doing anyway?"

Yuki shrugged and crossed her arms. "Curiosity. What, one can't be curious about things?"

Riku lowered his blade and let it disappear. "Hn... have you seen this person?"

Riku threw a piece of paper to Yuki, who caught it and laughed mentally. _Yep, I've seen him all right..._

Yuki blinked innocently and furrowed her eyebrows. "Why are you giving me a picture of yourself?"

Riku rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "He looks like me... but he's someone else. Have you seen him?"

Yuki shook her head. "Nope." _Heck yes I have..._ Yuki gave the picture back to Riku and shrugged while walking off. "Well, good luck finding him..."

Yuki left Riku standing in the wreckage site, pondering about why Riku would need to shroud himself in darkness. Yuki found that she had wandered back into the crowded part of town and sighed. "Now where is my psychotic water wielding friend?"

Looking around the street, Yuki saw no sign of Demyx anywhere. She then began to walk down the street with a bored expression, hoping that she wouldn't have to go back to the castle right away. As Yuki walked down the street, she came across the music store she had been in previously. Pondering for a moment as she stood before the entrance, she went inside and headed straight for the rack where the album she liked previously sat. Grinning to herself, Yuki walked happily to the cash register with the CD.

--

Yuki walked around the town with a plastic bag holding the CD. To her surprise, the CD was much cheaper than she expected, only 300 munny. That would leave her with 1200 munny. Shrugging to herself, Yuki turned left into a less populated area of the town when she heard someone scream. Yuki narrowed her eyes and ran into an alley where the scream was coming from. Inside, she saw a teenage girl of about thirteen being attacked by a heartless. Yuki froze. _What... do I do? Do I... help the heartless, or help the girl...?_ Yuki stood stuck to her spot as the heartless approached the girl while preparing to attack. It looked like a Shadow, but... it was stronger. The girl spotted Yuki and looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Help me..."

The girl whimpered as the heartless disappeared into the ground. Yuki felt something in the bottom of her stomach tighten. She knew it wasn't going away... it was preparing for an attack. Yuki turned her head to the side, not wanting to look the young girl in the face.

"I'm... sorry."

Yuki heard what seemed like the girl's flesh being torn as the heartless made its attack. Yuki looked up at the girl's body and felt her eyes widen. The girl looked completely unharmed on the outside, but she could sense a darkness eating away at the girl's core. The heartless practically pounced on the girl's heart as it was released, absorbing it into its body. Yuki silently walked towards the heartless that had just noticed Yuki. For a moment, it was still. It then started to disappear. _/My... liege._/ Yuki looked down at the girl's body with a little remorse. She could have helped the girl, but... but... Yuki shook her head.

"The heartless are a part of me... I'm... sorry."

Sighing, Yuki knelt down by the girl's body, smoothing some hair away from her face. "I could still give her soul one last parting gift before it's destroyed... I'll let it live on in darkness instead of disappearing completely. She will live on..."

Yuki looked down at the girl's now pale face. Blood dripped down from her mouth, but otherwise she looked like a fragile porcelain doll. Yuki gathered dark energy into her hand and pressed her hand onto the girl's chest where her heart would be. Slowly, the girl's body faded and left a Shadow behind. The newly created heartless looked at Yuki momentarily before disappearing from view. Yuki jumped when she heard a footstep coming from the entrance to the alley.

"What're you doing here?"

Yuki blinked and looked away from the person with sad eyes. "Just some recruiting..."

Demyx watched Yuki for a moment before shrugging. "Whatever. Hey, we should probably leave since you found that boy. It's not like we can do much else if we want to keep our identities secret."

Yuki nodded and started to follow Demyx through a shadow portal. "Yeah..."

--

Upon arriving back in the castle, Yuki found that they had landed in Xemnas' office. Xemnas was waiting expectantly and crossed his arms when the two teens appeared.

"Yuki."

Yuki nodded and sighed inwardly. "The boy had started to talk to me, and I had found that he has been looking for signs of you, but I think I have distracted him by telling him that there was an Heir to the Darkness. For now, I think he will be searching for the 'Heir' instead of you."

Xemnas looked at Yuki with narrowed eyes. "Why did you mention the Heir to the Darkness?"

Yuki blinked and clenched her hands. "W-well, I didn't want him to find information on you and the castle, so I thought that I could give him information to distract him... but no one else knows about the Heir, right?"

Xemnas walked up to Yuki slowly. Yuki's heart started to race. _He's scary..._ Xemnas took his hand and held it back, only to swing it and stop a centimeter before it touched Yuki's cheek. He then gently touched Yuki's cheek as her hands shook from the scare.

"Good job, I suppose. You were close to giving away vital information, but somehow escaped detection. Well, let this be a warning for the future; if you ever give out information, you _will_ be severely punished. Am I clear?"

Yuki nodded and felt her heart start to slow down. "Y-yes, sir..."

Xemnas nodded and turned around to go through a door on the opposite side of the room. "Good. Now, leave me at once."

Yuki felt Demyx grab her arm and lead her out of the room, the door shutting tightly behind them. Demyx then turned around and raised an eyebrow at Yuki. "So?"

Yuki blinked and cocked her head to the side. "So what?"

Demyx rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets. "So, what do you think now of our oh-so-lovely leader?"

Yuki smiled and rubbed the back of her head. "Uh, he's scary?"

Demyx grinned and took out the MP3 player from his pockets. "Yep. That's a given."

Yuki rolled her eyes and made a shadow portal. "Yeah... well, see you later. I'm gonna go do my own thing."

Yuki sighed to herself, for she doubted Demyx even heard her with the music he was listening to blaring in his ears. Shrugging to herself, she created a shadow portal that would take her to her room. _I need some time to think..._

--

Yay! Next chapter is finished! XD I hope everyone is having a good New Years, for I sure am... Anywhose, cast your votes soon because the polls won't last for much longer. Thank you for reading and please review!


	10. Encounter

Polls results: Roxas/SoraxOC is the winner! Well, this poll has proven to be entertaining. Well, let's be looking forward to this pairing and the story that unfolds from it.

--

Yuki sat against the locked door, her eyes staring at the blank ceiling. She absently fingered the charm on the bracelet as she thought of the girl who had been attacked before her eyes.

"So... this is the true nature... of darkness."

Yuki closed her eyes and put her hand on her chest where her heart was, feeling the soft thumping that alerted her of her existence with a small smirk. "The dark side... no sugar and spice here. It's all reality... Is this supposed to show me something, or what?"

Yuki breathed in deeply, her eyes furrowing as her heart quickened when she took in more oxygen, allowing more blood to receive the source of life. She then thought of how the girl's heart was taken by the heartless. Yuki expected to feel sick or something at the fact that she had witnessed someone die when she could have helped them but... but...

"Why do I feel so... amused?"

Yuki shook her head and ran her hand through her hair. Was it normal for her to feel this way after seeing death? After acting so coldly? Yuk felt a smirk creep across her face as she remembered the girl's pale face after she died.

"Am I... a monster?"

Sighing, Yuki watched as yellow eyes appeared in her shadow once more before the small heartless came out. /_...Troubled... liege is... succumbing._/

Yuki blinked at the small creature and crossed her legs. "Hmm? What do you mean? What am I succumbing to?"

The Shadow looked at Yuki's charm. /_Insignia... transfer emotions... Liege is... letting darkness take control. Emotions... overrun._/

Yuki smiled at the small heartless and clutched the charm in her palm. "Ah... you must be feeling what I am... the confusion. Hey... is it normal for me to feel happy about death?"

/_That is... for Liege to decide. Do you wish... to feel this way?_/

Yuki sighed and banged the back of her head against the door. "I dunno... I mean, humans are supposed to feel sad, right? Ugh... I guess I wanna feel the sadness everyone feels. It's creepy to like the sight of people dieing." Yuki looked to where the shadow was previously and blinked, seeing that it had, once again, disappeared before saying any form of goodbye. Yuki gave her shadow a flat look and crossed her arms. "Yeah... thanks."

Yuki then jumped when she heard a sharp knock on her door. "Hey, are you alright in there?"

Yuki scrambled to her feet quickly and cracked the door open to find Axel standing before her with crossed arms. Yuki laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "Uh, yeah... why do you ask?"

Axel raised an eyebrow at her and shrugged. "I dunno... why do you talk to yourself?"

Yuki blinked and grinned. "Uh... I..."

Axel shook his head and started walking down the hall. "Whatever... I was just wondering. I heard you on my way here."

Yuki nodded her head and looked to the side with an emotionless expression. "Oh..."

Axel raised an eyebrow and paused, sighing after a few moments and ushering Yuki back into her room. He then proceeded to sit cross-legged on her bed while giving her a blank stare. "What is it?"

Yuki looked up and blinked. "Huh? What do you mean...?"

Axel gave Yuki a flat look and hit her lightly on her head. "You know what I mean."

Yuki furrowed her eyebrows and rubbed her head gingerly. "There's nothing wrong... nothing I can't handle anyway. Weren't you on your way to do something or another?"

Axel shook his head. "I just finished. I was sent to get Xaldin to see Xemnas. Well, if you're finished, I wouldn't mind leaving our conversation right here."

Yuki looked at Axel strangely and crossed her arms. "What the heck?! You're the one who just walked right in and started to talk... and it hasn't even been three minutes."

Axel grinned and got up from the bed, ruffling Yuki's hair as he made his way to the door. "Whatever. Come on, we can train if you have all of this free time on your hands."

Yuki gave Axel a flat look as she followed him out of the room. "Ugh, come on! I do enough training with Luxord!"

Axel shrugged. "Fine. If you don't want to get any better then go ahead and sit in your room. Maybe the Keyblade master will beat you when you first meet."

Yuki blinked and stopped walking. Axel noticed and turned to face her, seeing that her hands were clenched into fists. "What's wrong?"

Yuki furrowed her eyebrows and looked up at Axel. "I don't want to fight Roxas..."

Axel narrowed his eyes and turned around, his hands closing into fists as well. "... We don't have a choice. If we did, then maybe..."

Yuki blinked and looked up at Axel. "Then maybe...?"

Axel blinked and shook his head. "It's nothing... well, get a move on!"

Yuki shook her head and trailed after Axel through who knows how many hallways.

--

Yuki stood at the back of the room where she often trained in with Luxord. Axel was currently practicing his fire techniques on a bunch of nobodies he had summoned. Sighing, Yuki jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Yuki looked over her shoulder to see Saix watching Axel finish off the last nobody.

"The Keyblade master has made an advance."

Yuki narrowed her eyes as Saix motioned for her to follow him through a shadow portal.

"Come, there isn't much time for you to get over there and observe him."

Taking a quick glance at Axel, she nodded and obediently followed Saix through a shadow portal.

--

As she arrived at the other end of the portal, she found herself outside of the castle and before Xemnas. Xemnas nodded to Saix, who then disappeared into his own shadow portal.

"Yuki, the Keyblade master is now in Twilight Town. I need you to go there and keep an eye on him... strictly the Keyblade master. No interaction whatsoever with the commoners is allowed. Do you understand?"

Yuki nodded and felt her heart tighten. She would be so close to her home, but so far from it... Yuki's eyes widened when Xemnas put his hand on her shoulder.

"Now, I'll give you three hours to observe him, then you are to come back. Find his weaknesses and strengths. If we find more information on him, then we can prepare for future battles with him."

Xemnas then opened a rather large shadow portal to his left.

"Observe closely."

Yuki nodded and slowly walked into the portal.

--

Yuki arrived in Twilight Town and found herself on top of the same old clock tower. Yuki felt something inside as she remembered the new friends that she made at the tower. Shaking her head, she went to walk back down from the clock tower when she saw three familiar people walking towards her.

"Y-Yuki...?"

Yuki's eyes widened as she saw Hayner, Pence, and Olette in front of her. Yuki felt her eyes watering and quickly shut them. She ran around them as fast as she could and made her way down the clock tower stairs. Hayner narrowed his eyes and started to run after her with the other two.

"Yuki, what's wrong with you?! It's us!"

Yuki kept running and felt tears forming in her eyes. _I'm sorry... I can't...! You have to stay away from me..._

Yuki gasped and turned her head around when she saw Hayner gripping her arm. His eyes widened when he saw her tears and faltered, letting go of her arm. Yuki smiled and whispered something quietly to him before taking off again. When Pence and Olette caught up to him, they were confused.

"Hayner, why'd you let her go? She's been missing for a long time!"

Hayner stared after Yuki and quietly repeated what she said.

"Thank you, I'm sorry for this...?"

Olette furrowed her eyebrows and thought about what Hayner said.

"Why are you saying this?"

Hayner turned and looked at his friends and wore a sad expression.

"She said thank you... and that she was sorry. She didn't forget us, she's just... trying to get away for some reason."

Olette looked at where Yuki was just a moment ago and felt a grim expression on her face as well.

"What's going on around here...?"

--

Yuki stopped and leaned against a wall while trying to catch her breath. Yuki was still crying and saw the droplets fall onto the ground.

"I'm... sorry, guys. I'm sorry..."

Yuki quickly wiped the tears off of her face and frowned. If she stayed on the streets, other people were bound to recognize her as well. Yuki gripped her hands into fists and looked to the side where there were broken pieces of glass. She quickly grabbed the biggest shard of glass and grabbed a bunch of her hair at the nape of her neck and closed her eyes. She quickly cut off a good ten inches of her hair and felt her shorter hair fall against her back. It was now a little past shoulder length, and she could guess how uneven it was. Yuki winced and looked down at her hand as she dropped the shard of glass to see a rather large cut on her hand. Biting her bottom lip, Yuki tightened her hand into a fist in hopes of putting enough pressure on it.

"Well, time for a new identity, I suppose."

Yuki looked around and summoned a shadow portal. Looking in, she slowly walked into it and let it close behind her. The only thing she left were her strands of hair and a few droplets of blood. What a good impression that place would have.

Yuki walked out of the shadow portal and found that she was standing in front of a store that she never saw before in her short few days at Twilight Town. She went inside and heard the bells jingle to alert the owner that she was there. Yuki quietly looked around the store and looked for clothing that she would wear. Yuki somewhat grimaced on the inside at how girly most of it was. Slowly walking around, Yuki smiled to herself and laughed quietly. It seemed like an Olette kind of store. Yuki blinked when she saw some clothes that caught her eye. Even if she didn't like clothes shopping, she had to admit that she liked the clothing that she just found. She quickly found her size and walked to the cash register to pay.

The cashier smiled and took the clothes from Yuki.

"Hello, I hope you found everything alright."

Yuki nodded and smiled. She wouldn't talk to the commoners... The cashier nodded to Yuki and wrung up the price. Yuki quietly paid the money with her blood free hand and took the clothes from the cashier lady and made her way out of the store. The cashier blinked and quickly yelled at Yuki.

"Hey, you forgot your change!"

Yuki quickly made her way to an abandoned alley and closed off any opening with her dark energy. Yuki quickly changed into the clothes she had just bought and disposed of her old clothes. Yuki released the barrier she made with her dark energy and walked out of the alley. She now wore a white sleeveless turtleneck with a thin gray and silver vest over it. The grey vest had two pockets and was unzipped. Her pants were replaced with black cargo capris and she kept her black shoes. Yuki looked at her reflection in a store window and nodded. At least she looked a little different than before... Yuki grimaced and looked down at her hand to see the caked blood. She could smell how strong it was and sighed. She remembered what the lady once did to heal her and looked at her other hand. She slowly gathered energy into it and attempted to heal her other hand.

"Steady..."

Yuki furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to maintain control over how much energy was released. She didn't want to release a lot of energy at once, but the shadows were hard to control in one specific area. Yuki released her hold on the shadows and watched as they disappeared from her hand. Yuki frown as she looked down at her hand. She had only managed to heal it some of the way... if the tissue were to be agitated, it would start to bleed again... not to mention the fact that it still held a rather noticeable scar. Oh well... she could live with a small scar. Yuki felt her eyes widen when she started to feel something stir within her...

"He's around here..."

Yuki quickly turned around and ran towards the feeling. She felt the feeling growing stronger and stronger as she ran. Before she knew it, the feeling was more than she could stand. Yuki looked around, sure of the fact that he would be near. Roxas... Yuki blinked when she only saw a young boy around her age and a dog like person and a duck like person. The boy turned around and looked at Yuki with a curious expression. Yuki felt her eyes widen when she recognized whom it was. It was the boy from her dream.

"You..."

The boy blinked and pointed at himself.

"Huh, me...?"

Yuki blinked and shook her head. She strained a smile and tilted her head to the side.

"Ah, it's nothing... I thought you were someone else..."

The boy nodded and smiled at Yuki. "Hey, I'm Sora, and these two are Donald and Goofy."

Yuki blinked when Sora said his name.

"Sora...?"

Sora nodded and held out his hand.

"Yep, who are you?"

Yuki blinked and smiled weakly.

"Yuki. Pleasure to meet you..."

Yuki went to shake hands with him, but felt her hand start to bleed. Looking down, Yuki quickly took her hand back and tried to hide it. Sora, Donald, and Goofy already noticed though. Sora smiled and pointed at Donald.

"We can heal that for you if you'd like."

Yuki blinked and cocked her head at Sora. He reminded her of Roxas... so much...

"O-okay..."

Sora nodded as Donald walked up to Yuki.

"Heal!"

Yuki watched as a green light enveloped her hand and started to heal her wound instantaneously. Yuki smiled softly and nodded to Donald.

"Thank you."

Donald smiled proudly at Yuki.

"It was easy!"

Yuki laughed as she found Sora looking at her strangely. Yuki blinked and tilted her head in confusion.

"Is something wrong...?"

Sora shook his head and pointed at Yuki. "... Do I know you from somewhere...?"

Yuki blinked and shook her head. "I don't think we've met before this. I mean, you remind me of someone, but I highly doubt that you're him..."

Sora tilted his head and smiled.

"Who?"

Yuki looked up and blinked.

"His name was Roxas..."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy all gave Yuki a strange look after she had mentioned Roxas. Yuki blinked and looked at all three of them, a smile coming onto her face.

"You know him?! Do you know where he is?!"

Goofy shook his head and scratched the side of his head. "Nope, all these other fellers keep mentioning this Roxas feller, and they keep saying that Sora's this Roxas person."

Yuki felt her eyes widen and looked at Sora.

"Really? You don't look like Roxas..."

Sora shrugged and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, I'm only me, right?"

Yuki smiled and nodded.

"Yeah... I guess so."

Yuki felt her eyes widen as some heartless started to appear around her.

"No... not now!"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy all got into a protective stance around Yuki as Sora summoned his Keyblade.

"Don't worry, Yuki. We'll protect you!"

Yuki looked at the Keyblade and felt a massive amount of pain in her head. Yuki yelled loudly and gripped at her head. Falling to her knees, she tried to suppress the pain.

"No, you have to... stop."

Sora looked down at Yuki with a worried face and glared at the heartless.

"It's okay, we can fight."

Yuki shook her head as lightning like images of lightning like flashes returned to her head. Yuki yelled once again and shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.

"No, you have to... stop."

The heartless took notice of Yuki's pain and started their attack on Sora. Yuki watched in horror as the heartless were defeated one by one. Yuki felt the pain intensify as the Keyblade struck down all of the heartless. When the three finished fighting, Sora walked up to Yuki with concern.

"Are you alright, Yuki?"

Seeing that the Keyblade was even closer to her, Yuki shook her head.

"Stop..."

Sora furrowed his eyebrows and let his Keyblade fade as he squatted down to her eye level.

"Yuki, what's wrong?"

Sora put his hand on Yuki's shoulders and watched as she stopped gripping her head. Yuki quickly wiped off her eyes and looked up at Sora. Her eyes widened when she saw Sora only a few inches away from her. His eyes looked like Roxas' eyes... Yuki looked around for the heartless and saw that they had faded away into nothing.

"The heartless..."

Sora smiled softly and nodded.

"It's okay, we took care of them easily."

Yuki stared dully at Donald and Goofy, who nodded in return. Yuki stood up and brushed off her cargos.

"I see..."

Sora nodded and stood up as well.

"Yep! Now there's nothing to worry about. As long as my friends are with me, nothing bad can happen!"

Yuki looked at Sora and smiled sadly.

"Yeah. Friends must be your strength, right?"

Sora nodded.

"Yeah, without those two, I wouldn't be able to do much..."

Goofy smiled and put his hands in his hips.

"Gawrsh, you can do well without us, Sora!"

Sora grinned and laughed with the other two as Yuki smiled at them.

"I kinda envy you guys..."

Sora looked back at Yuki with a curious face.

"Huh?"

Yuki blinked and shook her head.

"Ah, it's nothing... Anyway, what are you guys doing here, anyway?"

Sora smiled and nodded at the other two.

"We're looking for my friend Riku and King Mickey... have you seen them?"

Yuki's eyes widened slightly at Riku's name, but luckily, no one noticed. Yuki shook her head and smiled sadly at them. She felt a little bad when they started to wear sad expressions. Sora smiled regardless and nodded towards Yuki.

"Well, thanks anyway. We should probably get going; we have to keep searching for our friends."

Yuki smiled and waved as they left her in the sand lot. Yuki looked down at her once wounded hand and furrowed her eyebrows.

"So... he's Sora?"  
--

Thank you for reading! Hahah, how is it? I hope it wasn't too bad... I'm sorry for not updating it in a while T-T Well, please review!


	11. Two Halves and Missions

Wow... it's been a while since my last update, ne? Well, I hope this chapter is suitable... I truly am sorry for all of the waiting you guys have done. Well, enjoy!

--

Yuki flexed her now healed hand over and over again by her side as she followed Sora's movement from the shadows. Ever since he destroyed the heartless before her, she was afraid to appear before him. She didn't want any of the heartless to be destroyed. Sighing, Yuki slowly climbed the steep hill that lead to the train station as she kept her eyes trained on Sora. Yuki frowned slightly as she thought of Roxas and the resemblance of Sora's personality. The only difference was that Sora seemed... well, nicer. Yuki narrowed her eyes when they reached the station, for a bunch of nobodies had appeared and surrounded them.

"No... Not now. I have work to do..."

Yuki closed her eyes and listened to the three struggle against the mass of nobodies. It was more than they could handle, for nobodies have a much different level of strength than heartless... Yuki clenched her fist and summoned her dark vein. If they were to get hurt too badly, she wouldn't be able to complete her investigation... Yuki was about to charge into the fray when a small, cloaked figure jumped into the battle. Yuki froze and felt the same menacing presence that often accompanied Sora and Roxas.

This person was a Keyblade master.

Yuki watched as the cloaked figure tossed something to Sora and ordered them to get inside the station. Yuki narrowed her eyes and watched helplessly as her target moved into the area where she could not follow. Yuki sighed and watched the cloaked figure as he quickly destroyed the rest of the nobodies that crowded around him. _This guy... is on a whole different level. He has much more experience than Sora..._ Yuki crouched low to the ground behind a brick wall when she saw the figure snap his head in her direction. _Crap... I can't let him know I'm here._ Yuki quickly looked at the shadows beneath her and felt herself plunging into the darkness.

--

Yuki winced as she landed hard on her back on the hard floor in the castle.

"Ouch... well that wasn't quite graceful."

Yuki quickly got up and brushed off her capris as she looked around. She was currently in the room that Axel was previously training in. Yuki sighed and readied herself to make another portal to go to Xemnas' office. Before she made her portal, she heard someone take a step behind her. Yuki quickly whipped around to find Xemnas standing before her, which scared her only a bit.

"You arrived early... I take it you have found out all the information you need?"

Yuki bowed her head and shook it slightly. "I was cut short because another Keyblade master had appeared to aid Sora in a fight... and I think he may have noticed my presence, so I fled. I wouldn't have been able to get past him without being caught."

Xemnas narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms behind his back. "What did this Keyblade master look like?"

Yuki raised her head and looked Xemnas in the eyes. "He was small...He had large, rounded ears, and his skill seemed to be far beyond Sora's current capacity."

Xemnas closed his eyes and smirked. "The king... has made his move."

Yuki's eyes widened as Xemnas started to pace slowly back and forth. She remained silent as she waited for him to continue.

"I think he knows we have already moved closer to the boy... but that was to be discovered in due time. Regardless, we will have to remove your cover as a civilian... What else have you found out?"

Yuki blinked and looked at the ground. "Well... Sora seems to be pretty confident... but he seems like he would be prone to giving up hope if his friends weren't around. He told me himself that he wouldn't know what to do without them. So I think it's both his strength and his weakness."

Xemnas nodded and turned to face Yuki. "Good. This shows me he relies on others... Yuki. I wish to give you a mission that will require you to be gone for a long time."

Yuki blinked and looked up at Xemnas in disbelief. "What?"

--

Yuki sat down on her bed and stared at the wall on the opposite side of her. "I can't believe he wants me to join _him_... Why Riku? I thought we were after Sora..."

Yuki huffed and glared at nothing in particular as she started to feel faint. Recognizing the feeling, she quickly let herself be enveloped in darkness.

--

Yuki found herself, once again, practically blinded by the light floor. Looking to the pedestal, she blinked and rubbed her eyes when she found someone else there instead of the lady that usually was present.

"So... it _**is**_ someone else."

The person turned around and, upon looking at Yuki, smiled. "Hello... it's a pleasure to meet you, Yuki-chan."

Yuki blinked and backed up a step when the man started to approach her. "Who are you, and where has the lady gone?"

The man smiled and bent down to look into Yuki's eyes. Yuki blushed slightly, for his face was rather close. "Ah, she and I are one in the same... although, I suppose she's the light side of us... I'm the dark side. I must say, she forgot to mention how cute you are."

Yuki backed up a few spaces and got a better look at the guy. He was rather tall and looked to be around twenty years old. He had spiky, black hair and sported half-moon glasses along with a simple black attire consisting of a black long sleeve shirt and black pants. Yuki noticed that he was rather handsome, but disregarded this fact as what he had said was sinking in.

"Wait... you said you two were the same person? How could that be?"

The man smiled and crossed his arms as he started to pace back and forth before her. "You see, each person consists of a dark and light side, correct? Keeping that in mind, we represent those different sides. Whenever light is prevalent in the Dark Vein, she will be apparent. Whenever darkness is prevalent, you will find me here. Being so, your realization of some things has caused me to be prevalent. Basically, the dark vein will house whatever feeling is dominant at the time. Although, I suppose it doesn't really matter... but depending on which one of us is out, different things can happen with the dark vein. When light is prevalent, the gem on the blade will consist of a purple hue. When darkness is prevalent, it will consist of a dark blue. Got it so far?"

Yuki nodded meekly and froze as the man smiled and patted her on her head.

"Good. Now, I would elaborate some more, but I must see if you understand now. Now, I will give a proper introduction. Hello, my name is Toby."

Yuki's eyes widened and she looked at Toby's outstretched hand. Yuki softly grabbed his hand and shook it while nodding.

"Nice to meet you, Toby... sir."

Toby smiled at Yuki and nodded. "There you go, you have realized it. Now, do you know exactly what you've realized?"

Yuki looked at the ground and frowned. "That... I'm a hopeless cause who can't make up her mind?"

Toby laughed and shook his head. "No, not that. About your power and your destiny. Any of that sort of thing."

Yuki blinked and shook her head. "Not really..."

Toby sighed and squatted in front of Yuki so that he could be face to face with her. "Well, think upon that, but for now, I must return you to the real world. If you need me, you know where to find me. We're always by your side, no matter the decision you make."

Toby lifted Yuki's hand and kissed it before Yuki started to feel faint. Yuki smiled and closed her eyes as the light from the floor started to increase. "... My decision..."

--

Yuki opened her eyes and found that she was lying on her bed. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and quickly stood. She felt a little better about recent events after talking with Toby, but now she had to go meet with Xemnas; she had to be prepared for departure. Yuki quickly made a shadow portal and stepped through.

Upon exiting the portal, she found herself outside of Xemnas' office and swallowed at the lump in her throat. She didn't exactly like the idea of hanging around someone who had her name in their bingo book... Well, the Heir to the Darkness, not exactly her name, but give or take a few things, it was all the same person. Yuki quickly knocked on the door and entered upon hearing the muffled response.

Yuki found Xemnas talking with Saix, who was now staring in Yuki's direction. Yuki bowed slightly and moved out of the way as Saix walked past her. _I must admit, I'll be glad to be away from that guy... he's scary._ Yuki jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around. Xemnas turned his head toward the wall to the right. Looking in the same direction, Yuki found a shadow portal waiting for her.

"Riku is currently in Hollow Bastion again. I want you to wait in an area with a lesser population and prepare yourself to fight with some lesser nobodies I will be sending after you. While you stay with Riku, I want you to refrain from using the Dark Vein. We must not let him question your weapon or powers. In exchange, I will be giving you a normal weapon that will function similarly to the Dark Vein. Are you prepared for departure?"

Yuki nodded hesitantly and looked at the portal as Xemnas handed Yuki a medal rod about six inches long that had a sheathed blade on the end as well as a leather string. Yuki gripped the rod and noticed it was collapsed. As she wondered how long it was when fully stretched, Xemnas pushed her forward toward the portal.

"You know what your mission is. Now go."

Yuki nodded and tied the rod to her belt loop as she walked through the portal. This was going to prove interesting.

--

Yuki stepped onto the hard pavement as she landed outside of the portal. As the portal closed behind her, Yuki looked around and saw that she was in the back of a rather dark alley. Sighing, she started to walk out of the alley as she concentrated on feeling any links. When she finally felt a faint tug in the back of her mind, Yuki snapped her head to the left.

"He's this way..."

Yuki quietly walked down the street and noticed that it was conveniently abandoned. Smiling to herself, she pondered whether Xemnas had planned this, or whether it was a lucky fluke. Feeling the pull growing stronger, Yuki stopped in her tracks and waited. Once the pull became very noticeable, she felt lesser pulls coming from behind and saw three Dancers and a Dusk appear. Tightening a hand around the metal rod, she took it out of its sheath and extended the pole. Yuki felt the edges of her mouth twitch into a smile when she found it to be around the same length as the Dark Vein. Her eyes then traveled to the end of the pole and noticed that the blade was fairly smaller in width and length. Disregarding the blade, Yuki narrowed her eyes at the nobodies.

"I hope this is as strong as it gets... I can't handle anything larger than this."

Yuki tightened her grip around her spear as the Dusk approached ahead of the Dancers. Yuki jumped back and spun around to avoid being slashed at by the Dusk's hand. As Yuki spun around to face the dusk, she swept the spear up in an ark to nick the Dusk in the upper torso where one's collarbone would be. The Dusk recuperated quickly and slinked around quickly behind Yuki and started to circle at her feet. Yuki attempted to jump away from the dusk, but ended up getting kicked in her back. Yuki was sent through the air to land at the feet of one of the Dancers.

The Dancer quickly started its pursuit and quickly caught a hold of Yuki. She struggled to wrench her arm free of the nobody as it started to swing her around. Yuki grabbed the Dancer's arm and kicked its chest area and felt herself fly backward from the force of her launch. Yuki quickly flipped and landed on her feet before seeing the dusk mere second from landing a blow on her. Yuki closed her eyes and guarded her heart with her arms as she waited for something to pierce them. She suddenly felt something fly pass her cheek and quickly opened her eyes. She was greeted with the sight of the Dusk fading away while a dark Keyblade was sitting in its head. The dark cloth of the person's arm was making her neck itch, and the Keyblade's presence was bringing her a headache. Yuki looked behind her to see the familiar face of Xemnas, except Yuki felt Riku's presence within his soul.

"... You? Why are you..."

Riku looked down at Yuki and raised his eyebrow. "I should be asking you the same thing. Watch out!"

Riku quickly grabbed Yuki around the waist and jumped back as a dancer grabbed for her. Yuki nodded to Riku in thanks and gripped her spear.

"We'll talk afterwards, I suppose?"

Riku nodded as he brandished his Keyblade once again. Yuki winced slightly at the sight of the blade but tried to ignore it; she had to finish this and continue with her mission.

--

Yes, the chapter is finished. I wanted to get it out on a good part, because I know you guys have been waiting for quite a while for a new chapter. Well, please review, and thanks for reading!


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